ZB 4 ]m 



311 
387 
spy 1 



PONCE 

DeLEON 

LAND 



.s^=^=5 





THIRD EDITION. 



ST, AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. 



By G. M. BROWN, Otd. Setgt. U. S. A. 



ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. : 

HK Record printing Company. 

ICOl. 



I 






V^^-- 




r 



^. 



'^^^ 




George M. Brown, Ordnance Sergeant U. S. A. 



PONCE 

D^LEON 

LAND 



.Otf^s^^^^^^^^^^v' ^ 




THIRD EDITION. 



ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, 



By G. M. BROWN, Ofd. Sergt. U. S. A. 



St. Augustine, Fla. : 

The Eecokd Printing Company. 

icoi. 



% 



fill 



Library of Congireaa 

Iwu Copies fV.cEiveo 
FEB 4 1901 

^ Coijyrigftt entry 

SECOND COPY 



.^sTc 



Copyright, IPOl, 
By George M. BKO^yN. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



T 



HE author lias endeavored in this work to answer the many 
thousands of questions that have been asked him in the past 
fifteen years pertaining to the history of Florida. 



PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. 



HAYING met with success in my first and second editions of 
PONCE DE LEON LAND, I am encouraged to publish a 
third edition, a revised work, embracing, among other sub- 
jects, the history of Fort Marion, with a desGi-iptive plan of same; 
the Spanish Inquisition and its effect on the settlement of Florida, 
with a full description of siege operations from the investment to 
the assault. 

The author finds a peculiar fascination in the early history of 
Florida that no other part of our country possesses. When we look 
back to 1512, the date of the discovery of Florida by the gallant 
cavalier Ponce de Leon, the explorations of Narvaez and DeSoto, 
the permanent settlement by Menendez, the French and English 
colonies, the massacre of the Huguenots by Menendez, the retribu- 
tion and massacre of Spaniards by DeGourgues, the attacks of Sir 
Francis Drake and Captain Davis on St. Augustine, the siege of 
Governor Moore and Colonel Palmer, the brave Oglethorpe's bom- 
bardment and siege, the attack on the Highlanders at Fort Moosa, 
the defense by the gallant and accomplished Monteano, the com- 
pletion of the Fortress, which was one hundred and ninety-one years 
in construction, the Seminole war, the confinement of Indian pris- 
oners of war in the fort, the construction of the most magnificent 
hotels in the world by Mr. H. M. Flagler, making this one of the 
central points of colonial and modern history in the United States. 
Tf this book awakens an interest in the colonial history of our 
country the author will be partially repaid for his fifteen years' 
work. 

Eespectfull}^, 



Ordnance Sergeant, IT. S. A. 

St. Augustine, Fa. 



INDEX 



THIRD EDITION OF PONCE DE LEON LAND. 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth and Early Life of Ponce de Leon. 

CHAPTER IL 

The Conquest of Porto Rico. 

CHAPTER III. 

Ponce de Leon Assumes Command of the Island. The Tests Made by the Indians to 
Find Whether the Spaniards V/ere Mortals. 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Indians Attack the Spaniards. Death of Satomayor. 

CHAPTER V. 

Ponce de Leon Resigns Command of Porto Rico, and Returns to Spain to Look After 
His Ward Left Him by Satomayor. He Hears of the Fountain of Youth. 

CHAPTER VL 

Ponce de Leon's Introduction to His Ward, Dona Inez de Satomayor. He Accepts th© 
Guardianship. 

CHAPTER YIL 

Ponce de Leon's Search for the Fountain of Youth. His Discovery of Florida^ 
Landing on the 3d of April, 1512. 

CHAPTER VIIL 

Ponce de Leon's Expedition Against the Carribees. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Ponce de Leon's Last Voyage. Attempted Settlement of Florida. His Death and 
Burial in Cuba. 

CHAPTER X. 

The Second Attempt to Settle Florida by Panfilo Narvaez. Its Failure and Loss of All 
the Party but Four. 

CHAPTER XL 

The Third Attempt to Settle Florida by Hernando de Soto Results in the Loss of Hi& 
Life by Disease, and All but Three Hundred of His Commands 

CHAPTER XII. 

Huguenot Settlement Under Ribault and Laudonniere.. 



INDEX. V 

CHAPTEE XIII. 

Pounding of St. Augustine by Menendez in 1565. Attack on the French Settlement 
on the St. Johns. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Massacre of the French Colonists by Menendez. 

CHAPTER XY. 

Pope Pius V.'s Letter of Commendation to Menendez. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Refusal of Charles IX. to Take Notice of the Slaughter of His Subjects. Petition of 
Nine Hundred Widows and Orphans Unheeded. Menendez Strenghtens His 
Position. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Laying Out the Town with Its Defences. Erection of a Church and a Hall of Justice. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Expedition and Retaliation of De Gourgues. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Attack of Sir Francis Drake on St. Augustine, 8th May, 1586, Capturing £2,000 
Sterling. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Establishment of Mission; Massacre of the Missionaries by the Indians. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Capture of Apalacian Indians; Their Work on the Defences of St. Augustine; Progress 
of the Colony. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Captain Davis's Attack on the City; The Commencement of the Sea Wall. 
CHAPTER XXIII. 

Governor Moore's Attack on St. Augustine, 1702. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Colonel Palmer's Invasion of Florida. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Ogelthorpe's Attack on St. Augustine and Siege of Fort Marion. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

History of the Inquisition, Ancient and Modern; Its Effect on the Settlement of Florida. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Completion of the Castle. 



vi INDEX. 

CHAPTEE XXYIIL 

The History of Fort Marion. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Descriptive Plan of Fort Marion. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Siege Operations; Strength of the Besieging Army; Field Artillery; Cavalry; The 
Corps of Observation; Siege Artillery; The Investment; The Camps; The Line of 
Circumvallation; The Line of Countervallation; The Survey; Gabions; Facnes; 
Fagots; Sap Roolers; Planning Approaches; The Artillery Park; The Engineer- 
ing Depot; The First Parallel; Tracing the Parallel; The Guard of the Trenches; 
The Working Parties; Mortar Batteries; Road-making; The First Bombardment; 
Road Regulations; The Approaches; Working Parties; The Simple Trench; Tracing 
the Approaches; Guarding the Working Parties; The Second Parallel; Batteries 
of the Second Parallel; Breaching the Demilonee; The Third Parallel; The Flying 
Sap; The Full Sap; Breaching the Main Work; The Assault. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

The Transfer of Florida to England, 1763. 

CHAPTER XXXIL 

Recession of Florida to Spain; The Erection of the Cathedral, 1763 to 1821. 

CHAPTER XXXIIL 

Transfer of Florida to the United States. 

CHAPTER XXXIY. 

The Seminole War; The Treaty of Payn's Landing, 1832; Osceola's Capture and 
Transfer to Sullivan's Island; His Death. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

The Seminole War near St. Augustine. 

CHAPTER XXXYL 

Coacoachee's and Hadjo's Escape and Recapture. 

CHAPTER XXXVIL 

Fort Marion Taken Possession of by Florida Troops, January 7, 1861. 

CHAPTER XXXYIII. 

Confinement of the Comanche, Kiowa, and Chiricauaa, Apache Indians of War in the 
Fort. 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

The Hotels in St. Augustine; The Climate. 



PONCE DE LEON LAND 

THIRD EDITION. 



CHAPTEE I. 

Birth a^^d Early Life of Poxce de Leon. 

POXCE DE LEON" was born in the Province of Leon and 
was a worthy member of the celebrated family whose his- 
tory is connected with that province. 

He was appointed page to Pedro Nunez de Gnaman, Lord of 
Taral. Lie received his military instruction at an age when most 
children are under the care of their nurse. He early evinced such 
an aptitude for a military career that De Guzman placed him under 
the instruction of some of the most brilliant officers of that period. 
Tn his many campaigns against the Moors he learned a peculiar art 
of war, which was of great benefit to him in after years, especially- 
in his campaigns against the Indians in the Western hemisphere. 

In this school he learned one of the most essential points in 
military tactics ; that is to pick the men best qualified for the duties 
they are to perform; few men are capable of making good scouts, 
which is one of the most important duties performed by troops in 
the field. The chief duty of a scout is to give as near a correct 
report as possible of the position and number of the enemy, the 
strength of their works, if they have any, and the number of guns 
available for attack offensive or defensive. With correct informa- 
tion on these points, the commander can place his force in the best 
position to insure success. This information is of special impor- 
tance when operating against numbers largely in excess of one's 
own. 

In the field De Leon was the bravest of the brave, regarding 
the safety and welfare of his men more than he did his own. With 
a vigorous constitution that fatigue or hardship could but little 
effect, together with good judgment in selecting his men for the 
important duties he wished to have performed, made him an excel- 
lent leader. It was not surprising that he was successful in his 
many expeditions, and that he frequently received commendation 
from the King and Queen for his gallant conduct in the presence 
of the enemy, and for his sagacity in taking advantage of every 
point exposed by them. 



2 Ponce de Leox Land. 

When Columbus fitted out his second expedition to the West- 
ern Hemisphere, Ponce de Leon was one of the first to volunteer 
his services. Columbus recognized at once the benefit it would 
be to him to have such a brave and gallant officer associated with 
him, and as a consequence his services were accepted. After arriv- 
ing in Cuba he was assigned next in command of Juan de Esquival. 
And in his brilliant campaign against the province of Higuey 
shortly after, which was the most sanguine that had been waged 
against the Lidians in the Spanish colonies, he was promoted to the 
command of the above named province under the Governor of His- 
panola. The quiet life as Governor of this province did not suit 
the adventurous spirit of Ponce de Leon, and he soon planned a 
-campaign against the island of Boriquen, w^hose green mountains 
shone against the bright sky about fourteen leagues distant. He 
learned from the Indians who visited his province frequently that 
the rivers and mountains of the island contained large quantities 
of gold. Upon learning this he sought permission of Governor 
Ovando to explore the island, to find out if there was any truth in 
the report he had received. This request was willingly granted by 
Ovando. In 1508 he fitted out his expedition to Boriquen, consist- 
ing of a caravel aud a few small boats with a detachment of Span- 
iards and a few Indians for guides and interpreters. A few hours' 
Fail brought his command to the island. He landed near the main 
Indian settlement commanded by their head chief, Agueybana. 
The Indians received the strangers wdth great courtesy, vieing with 
each other in paying respects to the Spaniards. Ponce de Leon 
exchanged names with the Chief Agueybana, which was the Indian 
pledge of perpetual amity, and also gave Christian names to the 
chiefs famil}^, who always took great pride in the names thus given. 
The chief took the Spaniards through the most fertile part of the 
island, showing them their best fields of yuca, their groves laden 
with choicest fruit, and their excellent streams of water. De Leon 
■cared but little for anything the natives could show him, except 
gold, which was the main object of his search. The chief conducted 
him to two rivers, the Manatuabon and Zebuco, where the very peb- 
bles were richly vained with gold. The largest grains were gath- 
ered and given i,o the Spaniards for samples. There was no ques- 
tion but that large quantities of this precious metal abounded in 
these streams. De Leon left several of his men with the Indians 
and returned to Hayti to report to Governor Ovando the result of 
liis expedition. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 3 

CHAPTER 11. 
Conquest of Porto Rico. ,^ 

THE Indians of Porto Rico were more fierce in their disposition 
than those of Hispanola. They had been schooled to war 
from childhood, especially in repelling the frequent attacks 
of the CaribS;, who were Cannibals, and inhabited the neighboring 
islands. The settlement of Boriquen would be more difficult than 
the settlement of Hispanola. Ponce de Leon, therefore, made 
another and preparatory visit to the island, to inform himself of 
the topography of the country, its resources and the character of 
its people. He found the troops he had left on the island in good 
health and spirits, they having been well treated by Agueybana 
and his people ; there seemed to be no need of bloodshed to gain the 
island from such hospitable people. 

Ponce de Leon had strong hopes of being appointed Governor 
by Ovando and of bringing the whole island peaceably into sub- 
jection. He on that account remained some time on the island 
prospecting for gold and looking out for the best point for settle- 
ment. He then returned to San Domingo to get his appointment 
as Governor, but during his absence the whole governing power had 
changed. 

Governor Ovando had been recalled to Spain. Diego Colum- 
bus had been appointed in his place to the command of San Do- 
mingo, Christoval de Satomayor had been ordered to build a fort- 
ress and establish a settlement on the island of Porto Rico. Sato- 
mayor was brother to the Count of Camina and secretary to Philip 
the L the handsome King of Castile, the father of Charles V. 

Don Diego Columbus was very much displeased with the ap- 
pointment of Satomayor as Governor, as it had been done without 
his knowledge or consent, and contrary to the King's agreement 
v.dth Don Diego as his viceroy, who was to be consulted in all ap- 
]")ointraents made in his jurisdiction. To settle the matter he con- 
firmed neither of them, but appointed June Ceron as Governor of 
Porto Rico and Miguel Diego as his Lieutenant Governor. 

Ponce de Leon and Satomayor took their disappointment as 
best they could. They hoped to better their fortunes in the island, 
and joined the settlers that accompanied the new Governor. 'New 
changes took place in consequence of the jealousies and misunder- 
standings between King Ferdinand and the admiral as to points 
of privilege. The King still seemed disposed to maintain the right 
of making appointments, without consulting Don Diego, and 
exerted it in the present instance. When Ovando returned to 
Spain he made such a favorable report of the conduct of Ponce de 
Leon and the merits of his services to the crown, that the King 
appointed him Governor of the island and charged Don Diego 
Columbus not to displace him. 



PoxcE DE Leox Land. 



CHAPTER III. 



Ponce de Leon Issumes Command of the Island — The Test 
Made by the Indians to Find Out Whether the Span- 
iards Were Mortals. 

POjSTCE I)E LEOl^ on assuming command of Briqiien had a 
quarrel with Ceron and Diaz and sent them prisoners to 
Spain. With Satomayor it was different. He took a liking 
to him from their first meeting and appointed him Lieutenant 
Governor and Alcaldy Mayor, which office he accepted. Satomayor 
had a large repartimiento of Indians assigned to him by a grant 
from the King, but he soon resigned his rank as it took too much 
time from his personal affairs. 

Ponce de Leon established his town on the north side of the 
island about one league from the sea, where he supposed that the 
best gold deposits were to be found. It was opposite the port called 
Eico, which name was afterwards given to the island. The road 
to the town was horrible for man or beast; it cost more to carry 
their supplies this league than it had to bring them from Spain. 

After having firmly established his government, he portioned 
out the island into districts and towns and distributed the Indians 
into repartimientos to secure their labor. 

The Indians soon found the difference between Spaniards as 
guests and Spaniards as masters. They were driven to desperation 
by the heavy tasks imposed upon them; restraint and labor were 
worse than death. The most hardy and daring proposed a general 
massacre of their enslavers, but many were deterred by the belief 
that the Spaniards were supernatural beings and could not be 
killed. 

A shrewd chief named Brayoan tested their immortality. 
Learning that a Spaniard named Salzedo would pass through his 
country, he sent out a party to escort him, instructing them to 
drown him when they came to the river. The Indians took him on 
their shoulders to carry him across, and when in mid-stream they 
threw him into the water and fell on top of him, holding him 
under the water until he was dead. The chief examined the body 
and pronounced it lifeless, but the Indians kept it for three days 
until putrification had commenced to take place. This convinced 
the Indians that the Spaniards were mortal men, and that they 
could killthem the same as an Indian. 



PoxcE DE Leox Land. 5 

CHAPTER lY. 
Ti-iE Indians Attack the Spaniards — Death of Satomayor. 

THE chief who organized the attack on the Spaniards was Agney- 
bana, brother to the head chief of the island, who had died a 
short time previons to the outbreak of the savages. The present 
chief had been alloted to Don Christoval de Satomayor in the repart- 
iniiento and was treated Vvdth kindness by him, but the wild Indian 
spirit would never accept slavery under any conditions. 

Agueybana called his followers together and organized his men 
for a combined effort against the Spaniards, who were scattered 
over the island. He proposed that at a certain time each chief should 
kill all the whites in his province. In planning the attack, Aguey- 
bana assigned one of his sub-chiefs to the duty of attacking the set- 
tlement of Satomayor with a force of 3,000 warriors. The attack 
was to be made just before daylight with the instruction to fire 
their houses and to slaughter all the settlers. He reserved the 
right to kill Satomayor himself. 

Don Christoval had one very warm friend among the savages. 
Being a very handsome man he gained the love of an Indian princess, 
the sister of Agueybana, and the handsomest maid on the island. 
She had heard enough of the war council of the savages to learn 
that Satomayor was to be killed at the first opportunity. The 
life of her lover being more to her than all the rest of the world, 
she hastened to him and disclosed the plot against his life and all 
the rest of the Spaniards. Satomayor being a frank, open-hearted 
man, doubted that the savages would dare attack them. He con- 
sidered the warning given by the princess was on account of her 
great love for him, and did not take heed. 

Soon after he received warning from a Spaniard that under- 
stood the Indian language and their customs. He found that large 
numbers of them gathered together frequently, painted for battle. 
Suspecting that they intended to make an attack upon the whites, he 
stripped and painted himself, and thus disguised as an Indian he 
mingled freely among them. At night they assembled around a 
large fire, performing their war. dances to the chant of an Areyto or 
legendary ballad, which was to incite them to kill their oppressors. 

The Spaniard withdrew from the savages without detection and 
proceeded to notify Don Christoval of the contemplated attack and 
the special design on his own life. Again he did not heed the 
warning he had received, or give it the consideration that the 
danger of his situation demanded, but concluded that he had better 
report the matter to Ponce de Leon, who was at his stronghold at 
Caparra. With his usual carelessness, he asked Agueybana for 



6 Ponce de Leon Land. 

men to carry his baggage to Caparra. He left his home only 
lightly armed, and accompanied by but three of his own people, 
knowing that he had to cross through some difficult mountain 
passes and dense forests, which would afford secure hiding places 
for lurking Indians. 

Agueybana observed the departure of Satomayor with great 
pleasure, and determined to kill him before he could reach Ponce de 
Leon at Caparra. Selecting a number of his most trusted braves, 
he followed the small detachment of Spaniards closely. A short dis- 
tance from their starting point they encountered a Spaniard who 
cotild speak the Indian language. They attacked him and wounded 
him severely. He begged Agueybana to spare his life, and the chief, 
being anxious to secure Don Christoval, did not delay to dispatch 
him, but hastened after the detachment of Spaniards, which he soon 
overtook in a dense portion of the forest. Raising their terrible war 
whoop, they rushed to the attack. Before Satomayor could defend 
himself he was felled to the earth with a blow from a war club, and 
he vras quickly dispatched by the Indians, who were assisted by the 
guides furnished to Satomayor. They killed the remaining Span- 
iards. 

Agueybana -having satiated his wrath on Satomayor, with his 
party started out in quest of Juan Gonzalez, the Spaniard they had 
wounded, but in the interval he had recovered strength enough to 
enable him to conceal himself in a tree. The Indians hunted 
through the surrounding forest for some time, and finding no trace 
of him, they abandoned the search. Though suffering for food and 
water, Gonzalez did not dare to attempt to escape from his conceal- 
ment until night had set in. Under cover of darkness he made his 
way to the abode of one of the Spaniards, where he receiA^ed kind 
care and attention. After his wounds had been dressed and a sup- 
ply of food and water had been furnished him, he set out at once to 
w^arn De Leon of the great danger that Satomayor and his followers 
were supposed to be in, not knowing that the treacherous foe had 
killed the whole party. De Leon dispatched men at once to their 
assistance, who soon came to the place where their comrades had 
been slau2:htered and partially buried in the earth. 

During this time the savages burned the village of Satomayor 
to the ofround. They made the attack in tlie darkness of night, and 
the first intimation the Spaniards had of danger was the blazing of 
the straw-thatched roofs and the loud war whoops of the Indians as 
they sprang from their cover to the attack, slaus^hterino: the Span- 
iards wherever they could find them, till at last a brave fellow named 
Salazar rallied his people to2:ether, and making a determined on- 
elauirht on their foes, succeeded in drivinfir olf the Indians and con- 
ducted a large part of his people to their defenses at Caparra. In a 
few short hours Ponce de Leon learned of the general outbreak of 



Ponce de Leon Land. 7 

all the Indians on the island and the massacre of nearly one hun- 
dred of his people, and the destruction of all the places established 
by the Spaniards, except their present fortress. 

He found himself in a very bad predicament, with small chance 
of extricating himself from it. His settlements were entirely de- 
stroyed, and a large number of his men wounded and disabled, his 
whole remaining force not exceeding one hundred men. 

Agueybana had induced all the Indians on the island to join in 
the attack, and even sent runners to the Caribs for assistance to help 
exterminate the whites. Agueybana assembled nearly all the war- 
riors for the attack on the fortness. at Caparra; the forest literally 
swarmed with savages, the din of their war conchs, the roar of their 
drums, together with sounds of their war cries, was enough to ap- 
pall a much larger and better protected body of men. 

Ponce de Leon was a staunch and wary old soldier, and not 
easily daunted. He remained grimly ensconced within his fortness 
from whence he dispatched messengers in all haste to Hispaniola, 
imploring immediate assistance. In the meantime he tasked his 
wits to divert the enemy and to keep them at bay. He divided his 
little force into three bodies of about thirty men each, under the 
command of Diego Salazar, Miguel de Toro and Luis de Anasco, 
and sent them out alternately to make sudden sorties and assaults, 
to form ambuscades and to practice the other strategems of partisan 
warfare which he had learned in early life in his campaigns against 
the floors of Grenada. One of his most efficient warriors was a dog 
named Berezillo, renowned for courage, strength and sagacity. Tt is 
said that he could distinguish those of the Indians who were allies 
from those who were enemies of the Spaniards. To the former he 
was docile, and to the latter fierce and implacable. He was the 
terror of the natives who were unaccustomed to powerful and 
ferocious animals, and did more service in this wild warfare than 
could have been rendered by several soldiers. His prowess was 
so highly appreciated that his master received for him the pay 
and allowance, and share of booty assigned to a cross-bowman, 
which was the highest stipend given any soldier of the line. 

In a short time Ponce de Leon was reinforced by troops from 
Hispaniola, whereupon he sallied forth boldly to take revenge upon 
those who had thus held him in durance. His foe Agueybana was at 
that time encamped in his own territory, with more than five thou- 
sand warriors, but in a negligent, unwatchful state, for he knew 
nothing of the reinforcement of the Spaniards, and supposed Juan 
Ponce securely hemmed in with his handful of men in Caparra. 
The old soldier took him completely by surprise and routed him with 
great slaughter. Indeed, it is said that the Indians were struck with 
a kind of panic when they saw the Spaniards as numerous as ever, 
notwithstanding the number they had massacred. Their belief in 



8 Ponce de Leon Land. 

their iuiinortality revived; they fancied that those whom they had 
slain had returned to life, and they despaired of victory over beings 
who could thus arise with renovated vigor from the grave. 

A'arious petty actions and skirmishes afterwards took place, in 
which the Indians were defeated. Agueybana, however, disdained 
this petty warfare, and stirred up his countrymen to assemble their 
forces, and by one grand assault to decide the fate of themselves and 
their island. Juan Ponce received secret tidings of their intent and 
of the place where they were assembling. He had at that time barely 
eighty men at his disposal, but they were cased in steel and proof 
against the weapons of the Indians. Without stopping to reflect, the 
high-mettled soldier put himself at their head and led them through 
the forest in quest of the foe. 

It was nearly sunset when he came in sight of the Indian camp. 
The multitude of warriors assembled made him pause and almost 
repent of his temerity. He was as shrewd as he was hardy and 
resolute; so, ordering some of his men in the advance to skirmish 
with the enemy, he hastily threw up a slight fortification, with the 
assistance of the rest. When it was finished he withdrew his forces 
into it and ordered them to keep on the defensive. The Indians 
made repeated attacks, but were repulsed with great loss. Some of 
the Spaniards, impatient of their covert warfare, sallied forth in 
open field, with pike and cross-bow, but were called back within the 
fortification by their commander. 

The cacique, Agueybana, was enraged at finding his host of 
warriors baffled and kept at bay by a mere handful of Spaniards. 
He beheld night closing in, and fearing that in the darkness the 
enemy would escape, summoned his bravest warriors around him, 
and led the way in a general assault. When he approached the fort- 
ress he received a mortal wound from an arquebuse, and fell dead 
upon the spot. 

The Spaniards were not aware at first of the importance of the 
chief they had slain. They soon surmised it, however, from the con- 
fusion that ensued among the enemy, who bore off the body with 
great lamentations, and made no further attack. 

Ponce de Leon took advantage of the evident distress of the 
foe to draw off his small force in the night, happy to get out 
of the terrible jeopardy into which his rash confidence had placed 
him. ^ Some of his fiery-spirited officers would have kept the field, 
in spite of the overwhelming force of the Indians. "No, no," said 
the shrewd old veteran : "it s better to protract the war than to risk 
all upon a single battle." 

While Ponce de Leon was fighting hard to maintain his sway 
over the island, his transient dignity \vas overturned by a power 
beyond his control. King Ferdinand repented of the step he had 
taken in superceding the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor ap- 



Ponce de Leox Land. 9 

pointed by Don Diego Columbus. He became convinced, though 
rather tardily, that it was an infringement of the rights of the 
admiral, and that policy, as well as justice, required him to retract 
it. When Juan Ceron and Miguel Diaz returned, prisoners, to 
Spain he received them graciously and conferred many favors on 
them to atone for their unjust ejectment from office, and after some 
lime, sent them back, empowered to resume command of the island. 
They were ordered, however, on no account to manifest rancor 
against Juan Ponce de Leon, or to interfere with any property he 
might hold, either in houses, land or Indians, but on the contrary, 
to cultivate the most friendly relations with him. The King also 
wrote to the hardy veteran, explaining to him that this restitution 
of Ceron and Diaz had been determined upon in council as a mere 
act of justice due them, but was not intended as a censure upon his 
conduct, and that measures should be taken to indemnify him for 
the loss of his command. 

By the time the Governor and his Lieutenant reached the island 
Juan Ponce had completed its subjugation. The loss of the island's 
champion, the brave Agueybana, had, in fact, been a death-blow to 
the natives, and showed how much, in savage warfare, depended 
upon a single chieftain. They never combined in war afterward, but 
dispersing among their forests and mountains, fell gradually under 
the power of the Spaniards. Their subsequent fate was like that of 
their neighbors of Hayti ; they were employed in the labor of the 
mines, and in other rough work, so repugnant to their nature that 
they sank beneath it. In a little while almost all the aborigines dis- 
appeared from the island. 



CHAPTER V. 



Ponce de Leon Resigns the Command of Porto Rico and Re- 
turns TO Spain to Look After His Ward Left Him by 
Satomayor — LIears of the Fountain of Youth. 

BEFORE Ponce de Leon was superceded in the command of Porto 
Rico, he was visited by Agueybana's sister, the Indian princess, 
the most beautiful maiden on the island, to whom Don Chris- 
toval had intrusted .some important papers, to be delivered to Ponce 
de Leon in case anything should happen to him during the outbreak. 
She was the only person he could place implicit reliance upon. She 
promised, in case anything should happen to Don Christova.l,to de- 
liver the papers to Ponce de Leon, or lose her life in the attempt. 
It was at great danger to her life that she succeeded in reaching Ca- 
parra and delivering the papers into the hands of Ponce de Leon. 



10 Ponce de Leon Land. 

Don Christoval seemed to have a presentiment that the Indians 
might destroy his little colony, and requested Ponce de Leon to take 
care of the faithful maid who brought him the message, and special 
care of his ward, Donna Inez de Satomayor. With the former, Ponce 
de Leon had no trouble. He sent her to Hispaniola with a trusted 
messenger, and placed her in care of one of his friends and made 
ample provision for her tuition and maintenance for life. This, in- 
deed, was a very delicate position. What could he do for a young 
and titled lady ? He saw at once the difficulty he would encounter 
in the situation he was placed in. How could a man like him, who 
had passed his life in camp and field of battle, expect to guide and 
instruct a young lady like Donna Inez de Satomayor ? 

His being relieved as Governor of Porto Kico had no effect upon 
the gallant and sturdy old warrior. There was a new world to be 
divided among men like him, wIto had the sense and courage to take 
it. He had amassed wealth enough to make him independent. The 
one point that did worry him was, how could he comply with the 
request of Don Christoval de Satomayor? There was but one way, 
and that was to go back to Spain and settle the matter beyoild any 
question. He embarked at once for Spain to carry out the request 
of his slaughtered comrade, and on his arrival there immediately 
proceeded to visit Donna Inez, so that he could provide for her and 
return to Hispaniola for the purpose of further exploration in the 
Western Hemisphere. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Ponce de Leon's Introduction to His Waed^ Donna Inez de 

Satomayor. 

ON arriving at his destination. Ponce de Leon was conducted to 
the residence of Donna Inez. Great was his surprise when he 
was introduced to the beautiful ward of Don Christoval. If 
any one had told him that a person so lovely existed on the face of 
the earth he would have doubted it. The man who had so often faced 
death in almost every form, now stood dumb for a moment. What 
was this that came before his vision? Was he dreaming or in a 
trance? Could it be possible that this was the ward his old com- 
panion in arms had asked him to love, cherish and protect as a 
father ? With an extraordinary effort he collected his senses and ad- 
vanced to meet Donna Inez, and received the warm clasp of her 
hand, which he raised to his lips with reverence. She saw at once 
that he was greatly disturbed by something. What it was she could 
not imagine. In a moment he collected his scattered senses and 
remembered what had brought him back to Spain. He placed his- 



Ponce de Leon Land. 11 

hand in his pocket and drew forth the package that he had received 
from her foster father, through Agueybana's sister. The moment 
her eyes caught "sight of the subscription a glad smile of pleasure 
broke"^ over her features. She recognized the writing of her foster 
father, whom she had not heard from but once since his departure 
from Spain. He had spoken very highly of Juan Ponce, and given 
her quite a history of the veteran cavalier. Juan Ponce was the 
first to inform hereof the death of her foster father. She was struck 
dumb with grief when he told her that he had been slain by the 
treacherous savages ; tears blinded her eyes so she was unable to read 
the large package of papers that had been sent to her by her guide, 
protector and more than father. Both of her parents having died 
when she was an infant, she had been left to the care and protection 
of her kinsman. 

When this infant was brought to Don Christoval by a large 
retinue of servants, together with the papers and instructions per- 
taining to her estates, and his appointment as guardian, with the 
request that he would be a kind and loving protector to their orphan 
child, Don Christobal recognized at once the great responsibility that 
had been placed upon him by the death of his kinsman. When this 
little infant was placed in his arms, with its large, black eyes looking 
into his without the least sign of terror or fear, his heart went out 
to it in a great wave of love that time never dimmed. He there and 
then registered a vow that as long as life lasted he would love, guide 
and protect this second one left to him of his people. He made ar- 
rangements at once for the care of his little ward, retaining her a 
nurse and a large number of the people who had been connected with 
her own household, and set about the arrangement of her estates, so 
as to derive the greatest benefits for his foster child at such time as 
she would need them. This little child grew up to be one of the most 
beautiful maidens in Sunny Spain. Don Christoval spared no ex- 
pense to give her the best education that it was possible to procure. 
He took her to his heart and cherished her as the greatest blessing 
Divine Providence could have bestowed upon him. He saw at once 
that he was a better man for having this sweet-tempered companion. 

The time came, however, when he found he had other duties 
incumbent upon him. His King and country required his services ; 
and it would be necessary to leave his foster daughter under the 
care of some one else. The infant had meantime developed into a 
sprighth^, intelligent and healthy young lady. Her estates had been 
so well managed that on arriving at her majority she would ptssess 
one of the largest dowries in all Spain. 

Don Christoval was appointed Governor of Porto Rico, which 
necessitated his leaving his home for a time at least. Before leaving 
he transferred his own affairs, together with that of his foster child, 



12 Ponce de Leon Land. 

to his younger brother, Count of Camina, whom he knew would give 
them best of care and attention. It was with reluctance that he 
obeyed the command of his King to accept the Governorship of a 
province in the Western Hemisphere, but his sense of duty was too 
strong to allow him to disobey the orders of his sovereign. He bid 
a tearful farewell to his beloved foster child, and renorted at once 
to the King. After receiving his instructions he started for his 
station. History will explain the result of his expedition. * * * 
Donna Inez requested permission of Ponce de Leon to withdraw for 
a time until she could control her feelings. She sent her maid to 
request him to accept of her hospitality as long as he should remain 
in that part of Spain. After having met his ward, Juan Ponce was 
almost as completely overcome by his emotions as the young lady had 
been when he informed her of the death of her foster father. He 
had made no mention of the request made of him by Don Christoval 
to become the guardian of his v/ard, nor had his will been read; it 
was sealed in a separate package with a request that it should be 
opened in the presence of his ward and the Count of Camina, who 
were to share the property equally between them. It gave to Donna 
Inez the title of Countess and the possession of one of the largest 
properties in Spain. Ponce de Leon retired that night more agitated 
in mind than he had ever been in camp or tield. What c position to 
be placed in ! He was aware that a man like him, who had been 
in active service the greater part of his life, was little fitted for such 
a delicate undertaking. The next morning he took a long walk 
through the forests and returned for breakfast, v/here he met Donna 
Inez. He requested her to send for the Count of Camina as soon as 
convenient. She understood at once that the Count was one of the 
legatees of Don Christoval's will from the request written on the 
package handed her by Ponce de Leon. She had been out for a 
walk when she beheld Juan Ponce approaching with that brisk, firm 
step that is habitual to an old campaigner. His walk had done him 
good. His mind had become clear, especially on this matter per- 
taining to the guardianship of Donna Inez. 

As they approached each other he scanned her face closely. 
Strong traces of the great grief she had passed through during the 
night was plainly shown by her careworn look. When she extended 
her hand in greeting, it was clasped in his strong grasp, and with 
courtly grace he raised it to his lips. It caused a thrill to shoot 
through every nerve in his body ; a thrill he never forgot. It was 
only a short interval before the Count of Camina arrived. This was 
the first intimation of his brother's death he had received. He was 
greatly overcome by the sad intelligence. Juan Ponce then gave him 
the letter requesting him to assume the guardianship of Donna 
Inez, and stating that further information" would be found in the 
package of papers addressed to his brother and his ward jointly. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 13 

Juan Ponce requested that, as the papers were of grave importance 
to them all, that they should invite a holy father's attendance and 
others of their friends that could be found close by, and the pack- 
age be opened the next morning in the presence of them all. Juan 
Ponce retired; he wished to give the Count and Countess time to 
confer together and to overcome the shock of the death of their 
kinsman. Ponce de Leon wanted a chance to analyze his own feel- 
ings; he did not understand what could disturb his mind to such a 
degree; the fair hand of Donna Inez seemed to constantly appear 
before his vision; what could it mean? To a man like Ponce de 
Leon, that had been used to hardships and dangers all his life, it 
seemed very strange. After a long, brisk walk he returned to the 
castle, where he found the Count and Donna Inez awaiting him. 
They were anxious to hear a more complete statement concerning 
the death of their only relative. After receiving refreshments, they 
wended their way to the favorite arbor of Donna Inez. Seating 
themselves in its cool shade, Ponce de Leon related the main inci- 
dents of the life of Don Christoval from the time of his arrival in 
Porto Eico until his death at the hands of the treacherous savages. 
There had always been the closest friendship between these two brave 
men from their first acquaintance. The relating of his death caused 
De Leon almost as intense grief as it did his own kinsman. It was 
most sorrowful to all three. They bade each other a tearful good 
night and retired, with the understanding that at 10 o'clock the 
next morning the package sent by Don Christoval was to be opened 
and read before the reverend fathers and the rest of their friends 
in the vicinity. 

Juan Ponce went to his room, but could not sleep. The unrest 
that attacked him upon meeting Donna Inez still disturbed him. 
He could not understand his restlessness. He drank a goblet of 
wine and stepped out on the veranda. Lingering there a few mo- 
ments, his thoughts turned to the arbor where he had met the Count 
and Donna Inez. He wandered through the grounds for a time — 
instinctively he was drawn to the bower. Parting the vines he en- 
tered, and in the faint light of the moon saw something white seated 
in one of the niches where he had last seen Donna Inez. He moved 
forward to find out what it could be. To his great surprise Donna 
Inez arose with alarm and stood before him ; she recognized by his 
voice who it was. She greeted him kindly, and mutual explanations 
were exchanged as neither of them were inclined for sleep after the 
exciting incidents of the day. Both had wandered out for fresh air, 
and both, evidently drawn by the same impulse, were attracted to the 
arbor. When he clasped her extended hand the knowleds^e of what 
had caused his disquietude and unrest for the past few days dawned 
upon him. It was the great love that had spruno- up in his heart 
without warning for his ward. 



14 Ponce de Leon Land. 

He lingered for some time conversing with Donna Inez, giving 
her many of the incidents regarding Don ChristovaFs death and the 
love that had existed between them. Soon they returned together 
to the castle, when Juan Ponce retired. That night, the remem- 
brance of the tradition he had heard from the Indians, especially 
from the Caribs, came to his mind concerning the fountain of youth ; 
should he find this wonderful spring he could renew his youth and 
return to Spain with a reasonable chance of winning the love of his 
ward. To a man who had led a solitary life like Ponce de Leon, the 
thought that he could have a beautiful wife and a family to carry 
his name down to posterity was a lasting one. His mind reverted to 
frequent narratives he had heard from the Indians about the foun- 
tain of youth to the north of Cuba. If he could only find that spring 
and renew his youth he could return to Spain and win the love of his 
ward. Next morning he met the rest of the household at the morn- 
ing meal, after which they assembled in the hall connected with the 
castle, to hear the reading of the last will and testament of Don 
Christoval de Satomayor. After reciting the disposition he wished to 
be made of his property, that was to be divided between his ward and 
his brother, it was his special request that Ponce de Leon should be 
her guardian. She arose and came to Ponce de Leon at once, with 
her hand outstretched and with tears glistening in her eyes, and 
begged him to accept the charge her kind foster father had given 
him. He asked her to accept a seat next to him and told her that 
before accepting the great trust that had been bequeathed to him he 
wished to make a statement of his condition for the special benefit 
of his ward as well as for all concerned. He related his first meet- 
ing with Don Christoval and the history of their lives until his 
death by the hand of Aqueybana ; he stated minutely his career from 
boyhood up to that time. He cast his fearless eyes around those 
assembled, then meeting the glance of the Countess when a strong 
emotion took possession of his mind; he turned to the Count of 
Cameria and said : Sir, after hearing the history of my life can you 
or the Countess Inez think for one moment of asking me to become 
the guardian of this young and titled lady?" The Count replied: 
"Sir, I know of no one in Spain to whom I would rather entrust the 
welfare of the Countess than to your brave and generous care. With 
your permission, we will leave it to the countess to decide for her- 
self. ^^ The countess arose and stepped to the side of Ponce de Leon 
and said: "Kind sir, if you Avill accept the charge my loved foster 
father has asked you to take, I shall be blessed indeed, knowing that 
I have a guadian that I can love and respect in every way." Ponce 
de Leon turned and clasped the Countess in a tender emlDrace, and, 
imprinting a kiss upon her forehead, he replied: "I accept this 
great trust, and may our Lord deal with me as I do with you." In 
after years when he was beset with perils and hardships,' this dec- 



Ponce de Leon Land. 15 

laration came back to his mind with strong force. He knew if the 
Lord loved him with as great a love as he did his ward, his salvation 
was assured beyond any question. After settling the affairs of the 
countess to the best advantage, he asked the Count of Cameria if 
he would take care of his ward in case he should be compelled to 
leave Spain again. The remembrance of the tradition he had heard 
from the Indians in Porto Ptico came to his mind continually with a 
force he could not subdue. He well knew that he was liable to be 
called on by his King to undertake some perilous voyage at any mo- 
ment. There was one expedition which he was very anxious to 
make, and that was to the northwest of Hispaniola and Porto Eico. 
As the business which they had been called upon to witness 
had been transacted satisfactorily to all, the Countess requested 
them to accompany her to the dining hall, where a repast was pre- 
pared for them. Turning to Ponce de Leon, she said : "I am sure 
my kind guardian will assist me in entertaining my people, for 
which favor I shall feel very grateful.^^ He took her arm and con- 
ducted her to the dining hall, followed by her guests, where they 
were served with a bountiful repast. After the holy father had 
offered a prayer for their welfare. Ponce de Leon asked pemission to 
make a request of those assembled, which was granted : "Men of the 
house of Satomayor and De Leon, the time may come when I will 
be unable to be with my ward. Will you respond to her call at any 
and all times, whenever asked, both for counsel, protection and 
assistance?" They all arose and replied: "We will respond at any 
time, whenever the Countess may call upon us." De Leon thanked 
them in behalf of his ward. They seated themselves and proceeded 
to partake of the repast that had been provided by the Countess. 
After the banquet was over they gathered around the Countess and 
asked permission to retire, as the duties for which they had been 
called had been performed. She kindly dismissed them with sub- 
stantial tokens of her regard for them. She went to the library, 
where she found Ponce de Leon and the Count in earnest conversa- 
tion. De Leon welcomed her and requested her to be seated, and 
said : "My dear lady, you have come here at an opportune moment 
for me to explain the situation in which I am placed. Since my 
arrival at your castle, and especially since the will of your kinsman 
has been read to you, with his request that I should become your 
guardian ; within the last few hours, in fact, I have realized how 
tinsuited I am for the position which I have accepted, and for which 
I am totally unqualified. If you will look back to the history of my 
life, which I recited to you and the Count, you will see how unfitted 
I am to have the guidance and control of a lady of your rank and 
station. Until I came here I never thought for a moment that I 
could care for a home life. Understand, T have been most of my life 
in the service of my King and country, where I have had more hard- 



16 Ponce de Leon Land. 

ship than pleasure; here the thoughts of a home entered my mind 
for tlie first time. While stationed in Porto Rico I frequently met 
some of the chiefs of the Caribs, who told me of a wonderful spring 
of pure water that existed in a country to the northward of theirs, 
whose marvelous virtue when drunk and bathed in would restore 
health and youth to all who could use its salutary water. Dearest 
Inez, if this spring exists I will find it, or lose my life in the 
•attempt." 

"Dear sir, you have done enough for your country. For the 
present remain here and do something for your people and mine. 
They need the care and guidance of a firm and intelligent man. 
Give up this idea of searching for this fabulous fountain, the exist- 
ence of which rests on the report of the wild savages of the Western 
Hemisphere." 

"My dear Countess, what can I say ? My mind is in a chaos. 
Permit me to retire until morning, by which time I hope to unravel 
this great problem placed before me.'* Bidding each other good- 
night, they retired to their respective rooms. Ponce de Leon could 
not think calmly over his situation, so he started out for a walk in 
the open air. After a half hour's rapid walk, he returned to his 
room. The great bodily exertion had cleared his mind. He took a 
strong pull at the brandy flask and turned his attention to the situa- 
tion in which he was placed, and to determine what he should do. 

It was a difficult problem which faced him. There were two 
questions to solve. What was he to do about the young lady much 
younger than himself, and with whom, to his surprise, he found 
that he was madly in love. How could he, in honor, ask her 
to marry him? Did she care for him? Could he seek her hand 
under the conditions that existed at the time ? No, it would be dis- 
honorable in him as her .guardian, and an injustice to the Countess. 
Then the great, strong love of his heart came before him. What 
should he do? His thought returned to the tradition of the Indians. 
He came to the conclusion that he would go to Hispaniola and fit 
out an expedition for the exploration of the northwest country; the 
position he had canvassed very carefully while he was Governor of 
Porto Rico. He examined the notes he had made while in Porto 
Rico, and went over them with great care. He considered them 
with great attention in all their bearing's. It only served to 
strengthen his resolution to fit out an expedition for the exploration 
of that wonderful country of which he had received such a varied 
account from the Indians. Could he find this fountain and drink 
of its rejuvenating waters, he could return to Spain and claim for 
his bride one of the fairest and noblest in all the land. The reward 
was too great to demand much deliberation from a man of Ponce de 
Leon's intrepid character. The chance of finding this fountain was 
too great to be relinquished. He acquainted the Count of Camina 



Ponce de Leon Land. 17 

with his design and requested him to look after the affairs of the 
countess during his absence, and also after his own, which were of 
great importance. He hardly knew how much wealth he had accu- 
mulated until he looked over his papers to arrange for the disposal 
of his property in the event of his failing to return. 

After setting aside the amount that he deemed would be re- 
quired for the expedition and for the purchase of additional vessels, 
equipments and stores to maintain them in service for a long time, 
he found a balance remaining which gave him infinite satisfaction. 
He could leave a sum to his ward that more than equalled her own. 
This thought gave him great pleasure. The thought that if he 
failed in his venture and should never return, the Countess would 
see by the date of his will that his last moments in Spain were de- 
voted to her welfare. 

It was near morning when Ponce de Leon finished his labor. 
He was weary, and he cast himself upon a couch and slept as men 
can only sleep who are used to the camp and bivouac. At 8 o'clock 
he awoke with a bright and clear conception of what he had done 
during the preceding night and of what he was to do that morning. 
He looked over his papers carefully and corrected whatever errors he 
found in them. The strain on his mind and body had been a heavy 
one ; the page brought him a cup of coffee and some bread ; his can- 
dle was still burning ; he took a bottle of brandy and turned a gen- 
erous quantity into a cup and burned it down to the quantity that he 
wished, turned it into the coffee and drank it, a tonic he had found 
in his long experience in the field to have the best effects to restore 
vigor and vitality after a long vigil or exposure. He then went 
down to breakfast. 

He found the Countess seated at the board. She greeted him 
with a warmth that pleased him very much, and seated him at her 
right, the place of honor. The Count and the rest of the members 
of the household assembled around the board and the meal was 
soon dispatched. The Countess requested Ponce de Leon and the 
Count of Camina to meet her in the hall at 11 o'clock, to which they 
assented at once. The Count went to his room a few moments 
later and Juan Ponce started out for a walk, which he had always 
found to have a soothing influence upon his mind when greatly dis- 
turbed. They arrived in tlje hall nearly at the same time, and 
Juan Ponce saluted the Countess with great respect and devotion. 

When they were all assembled. Ponce de Leon stated the decis- 
ion he had arrived at during the night. He recited the peculiar 
circumstances that had connected him with the noble family of 
Satomayor, and of the new asperations that had entered his heart. 
Since his arrival in Spain it was the first glimpse of home life he 
had seen since his boyhood. He asked the Count to take charge of 
the affairs of his kinswoman, as well as his own, during his absence. 



18 PoxcE DE Leon Land. 

In the event of his not returning, he was to be administrator for the 

"The papers pertaining to the Countess will be left open; she 
can have access to them at any time. Also a part of my own papers. 
The remainder, when completed, will be sealed until my return or 
until my death. Dear sir, will you accept this great trust I request 
of you ?' ' 

The Count replied : "I will, and may the Lord guide me in car- 
rying out our wishes, both as to my kinswoman and to yourself.'' 

Ponce de Leon turned to the countess with a courtly bow. 
''Noble lady, I trust you will never have cause to regret the kindness 
you have bestowed upon a wanderer. If fate so wills, I shall return 
to you in a position to ask a great favor of you, which I cannot ask 
at the present time. I hope you will grant it, if your heart so wills, 
as freely and as earnestly as I ask it. Trust me, dear lady ; it will 
be the mainspring of my existence to return to Spain and to jou 
with a name that you will be proud of. If not, I will leave my bones 
to bleach in a western wilderness.'' 

"Dear sir, let me dissuade you from this undertaking. You 
have had more than your share of the hardships of this life. Ee- 
main here with us. 'We will try to compensate you for what you 
have been denied in your former life." 

"No, dear lady," said Juan Ponce, "I cannot remain. The prize 
is too great for me to forego the chance of winning it. I have com- 
municated with the King about the exploration of this unknown 
country. He requested me to report to him to-morrow for instruc- 
tions and orders. A fleet is to sail from Snain in a few days. I 
shall go with it. My fleet will refit at the port of St. German, Porto 
Eico. My people that remain here will be at your command for any 
service 5^ou may require of them. I will leave full instructions with 
the Count for your care and the care of my affairs. Any advice you 
may desire will be willingly given you by him. Dear Inez, believe 
me, I have not been unmindful of your interest and welfare. I 
trust you will be thankful for it some day. With your permission 
I will retire and arrange my affairs for my departure. I will be at 
your service as soon as they are completed." 

"Eetire, noble sir, and examine this matter with care and dis- 
cretion, and may the Lord guide you in your decision." 

Ponce de Leon retired and went over his papers carefully, mak- 
ing the necessary corrections and alterations, i^bout 2 o'clock in the 
morning a courier arrived at the castle with a dispatch from the 
King, ordering him to report to him at once. He wrote a note to the 
Countess, explaining the cause of his departure, and that he would 
return as soon as the business for which he was called was trans- 
acted. He started at once for Yalidollid, where the King was hold- 
ing court at that time. Upon his arrival he reported to the King. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 19 

Together they went over the plans of his expedition carefully. He 
gave him the history of the reports he had received from the differ- 
ent tribes of Indians in the West, and an especial account of the 
report he had received from the Caribs. The King gave him the 
necessary instructions, and stated what part of the expense would be 
borne by the crown. "Sir, I can give you but little instruction in 
this matter. I have full confidence in your experience. You 
will have to rely upon your own judgment and discretion, to a great 
extent. Send me a full report of your progress whenever you have 
an opportunity. May you be successful is the wish of your sover- 
eign.^^ 

Ponce de Leon received his final order and letters of instruc- 
tion ; also the date of the departure of the fleet. He found he had 
but a limited time to make his final preparations ; he also needed rest 
and sleep. He went to a quiet hostelry, where he obtained both. 
After a long, refreshing slumber, he awoke, much invigorated. 
After partaking of a hearty repast, he mounted his horse and started 
back to Castle Satomayor. 

He arrived on the second day. The Countess had evidently 
been looking for him. She advanced to meet him before he dis- 
mounted. She was very anxious to know the result of his mission. 
He gave the Count and Countess a full description of the route he 
proposed to take, the number of vessels and men that were to com- 
pose the expedition, and the amount of assistance to be furnished 
by the government. 

^^Dear Lady: Will you meet me in the arbor this evening? I 
have some important information to impart to you that I wish no 
one else to hear." 

"1 will with pleasure." 

Ponce de Leon retired to his room and completed his papers, 
giving full instructions to the Count for the care and disposal of his 
property in case he should fail to realize his expectations in his 
undertaking. He came to the conclusion that he ought to inform 
the Countess just what aspirations had entered into his mind since 
his arrival in Spain, and of the great love for her that had sprung 
into his heart. His ,2:reat expectation was in the discovery of the 
fountain of youth. The savages were a peculiar people in their tra- 
ditions, and it would not be transmitted throughout the whole 
eountrv without strong foundation. It would be the greatest effort 
of his life to find it. 

In the evening he met the Countess in the arbor, as appointed 
by them. 

"Dfear Countess, to-morrow I shall leave you. I have settled 
your business the best I could for your benefit and have left instruc- 
tions for your welfare. Dear Inez, since I came here I have learned 
that I love you with all my heart; with a love that cannot be esti- 



20 Ponce de Leon Land. 

mated except by yourself ; you are the mainspring which will govern 
my actions in this undertaking. If I am successful can I return to 
Spain and win your love and claim your hand ?'' 

"My love you have had from our first meeting ; my hand you 
can have whenever you wish it. Give me the right to accompany 
you. I trust you will never regret having the care and advice of a 
true and loving wife to assist you in this expedition. I will give you 
the assistance that a true woman's love can give. Think this mat- 
ter over carefully before you make your decision." 

Ponce de Leon clasped the Countess in his arms and pressed a 
kiss upon her lips. 

"Dearest Inez, you will never know what a terrible pang it 
gives me to part with you. Sometime hence you may know. Ee- 
member it is with the intent of a great benefit to us. Will you trust 
me fully in this undertaking ?" 

"Yes," said the Countess, "and may our Heavenly Father 
prosper your undertaking. If you return you will find Inez, 
Countess de Satomayor, with the same true love for you wdiich now 
possesses her heart. Make this our expedition, not yours alone. It 
is for the benefit of our King and country and more especially for 
ourselves. I must not detain you longer. You must have a plenty 
to do to arrange your business for your departure. Meet me in the 
garden where we can give our last adios with no other to witness 
it." 

"Adios ! my dearest Inez ; may God in His infinite mercy bless 
and protect you." 

Ponce de Leon went to the Count's room and gave him his 
papers and instructions as to what he wished him to do. 

"Count, I leave to your care all that I have in this world ex- 
cept what I take with me. In the event of my death you are my sole 
executor. I have not forgotten the kindness you have shown me; 
it will not be unrewarded; the love and respect of Juan Ponce de 
Leon \\all always be yours. Adios !" 

Juan Ponce returned to his room and retired. He had a 
refreshing sleep, which was of great benefit to a man in his condi- 
tion. He took an early and substantial repast. He repaired to the 
garden, where he found the Countess waiting to receive him. She 
again renewed her entreaties to him to abandon his expedition. 
"For our welfare, for the love that you are assured of stay here. 
Our interests are one, do not leave me alone, my heart has gone out 
to you ; let me show you with how great a love. Twill prove to you 
that Inez, Countess de Satoma5^or is worthy of the cavalier she has 
bestowed her love upon." 

"Dear Inez, when I leave you, it will be for our benefit. It is 
the great love I bear you that bids me go. What greater devotion 
to you can I show than by carrying out this exploration contem- 



Ponce de Leon Land. 21 

plated in this expedition? If I return to yon snccessful, it will be 
with an honor that no other man has ever achieved. With the ex- 
perience of age and with the vigor of yonth, dearest Inez, is not this 
a result that we should work for ? Bid me God speed and pray for 
onr success.^' 

"Go, and may the blessing of onr Lord attend and protect you 
in danger, in sickness and health, and return you to me, to guide 
and comfort me in years to come. Go, then, if you so will it, and the 
prayers of Inez de Satomayor shall accompany you, both for your 
success and for your safe return to me. Accept this kiss and with it 
the true love of my heart. May the good Lord bring you back to 
me. So you return I will be thankful. God bless and protect you 
is the wish of Inez. Adios V 



CHAPTEE VII. 



Ponce de Leon's Searci-i for the Fountain of Youth — His 
Discovery of Florida. Landing on the Third of April, 
1512. 

PONCE DE LE0:N' started for the port the fleet was to sail from. 
On arriving he found a large number of his followers ready 
and anxious to accompany him. He made the necessary 
arrangements and set sail the next morning. They made a very 
quick voyage and arrived at their first destination without delay. 
He fitted out his fleet for the exploration of the country to the 
northward of that colony. On the 3d of March, 1512, Ponce de 
Leon sailed from Porto Eico with three ships. Keeping a north- 
ward course, he fell in with the Bahama group of islands. He was 
favored with good weather and fair wind. On the 14th of the 
month he arrived at Guanahani or St. Salvador, where Columbus 
first put his foot on the shore of the ^^Tew World. 

After making diligent search for the fountain described by the 
Caribbees, he failed to find it, but was in no way discouraged. 
After some slight repairs to his fleet he put to sea. On the 27th of 
March he came in sight of land, but could not reach the shore on 
account of the heavy sea. The whole country was covered with 
flowers, from which circumstance, as well as having discovered it 
on Palm Sunday, he gave it the name of Pascua Florida, the Indian 
name was Cautio. 

Ponce de Leon landed and took possession of the country for 
his King. He extended his exploration to a great distance, exam- 
ining every spring and stream for the fountain of youth which was 
the great object of his search. Disheartened by the perils which had 



22 Ponce de Leon Land. 

beset him, he gave up the quest to Captain Jiian Perez de Ortrubia 
and sailed back to Porto Eico. If he had not found the fountain of 
youth he had discovered a new country, which would always be an 
honor to his name. He returned to Spain and reported the result 
of his expedition to the King, who received him with great favor, 
and appointed him Adalantado of Bimini and Florida, with au- 
thority to recruit men in Spain or the colonies for a settlement in 
Florida. It took him some time to perfect his plans. 

The Caribbees made several attacks on the island, taking many 
prisoners who were killed and devoured by them. So frequent were 
these attacks that the Spaniards feared they would have to abandon 
the islands. Whenever Ponce de Leon found time he visited his 
ward. She used every persuasion in her power to dissuade him from 
undertaking farther explorations. "You have done your share of 
work for our King and country, do something for me ; remain here 
with us ; we need your care and protection. Will not the love that 
I have given you dissuade you from attempting another expedition ? 
You have already expended a large amount of money for your 
former expeditions. Stay here with me; I will try to compensate 
you for all you will lose in such a dangerous undertaking. Here on 
my bended knees I beseech you not to leave me again." 

Ponce de Leon replied: "Dear one, it is the great love that I 
bear for you that compels me to accept the command of this expedi- 
tion, which has been specially requested of me by the King. There 
have been three ships fitted out, well armed and manned to chastise 
and subdue the Caribs. I know more about them than any one in 
Spain. The King relies upon my knowledge and experience to sub- 
due and stop their depredations. Can I refuse his request ? When 
I have complied with this order I will ask to be retired from active 
service. I will not leave you again ; I will devote my time to you and 
to the welfare of our people. This I pledge you will be the last time 
I will leave Spain. 

"Dear Inez, this fountain of youth I am confident exists, it is 
one of my highest aspirations to find it. Can I but return to you 
a youth in strength and vigor, with the knowledge and experience 
that no other man possesses. Dear heart, is not this a prize we 
should both seek for? 

"The King has fitted out this armeda and assigned me to com- 
mand it. Can I refuse to accept it ? ]N'o, dear Inez, you will be the 
last one to request it; let me obey this order, whether I return or 
not. It is my duty to my King, and more especially to you, whom I 
love and honor above all else in this world. Bid me God-speed 
with 3^our prayer daily at sunrise. I can turn to the East at that 
moment and know that there is one loving heart praying for our 
welfare and for my safe return. The King is aware of my expe- 
rience in Indian warfare, and has requested me to subdue the Car- 



Ponce de Leon Land. 23 

ribbees and also the Indians in Florida. Then I am to return to 
Porto Eico and superintend the repartimientos or distribution of 
the Indians, and the government of that island, assisted by a com- 
mission appointed by Don Diego Columbus. Dear Inez, this is a 
duty which I am thoroughly conversant with. I know the Indians 
and their habits and mode oi warfare. Who in Spain to-day is more 
fitted to take command of this undertaking than myself? Our 
King requests it ; I will not refuse. 

^^Adios, dear one; may the blessing of our Lord be with you 
forever. One more kiss, and now adios." 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Ponce de Leon's Expedition Against the Caribbees. 

PO^N'CE DE LEON" sailed in January, 1515, directing his course 
for the Caribbees country, with the intention of subduing all 
the Indians of that tribe. Arriving at one of the islands, he 
cast anchor and made a detail of men to go on shore to get wood 
and water, and women to wash clothing for the command, with a 
detachment of troops for their protection. The officer in charge of 
the party was evidently careless, and allowed his people to scatter. 
The Indians were ambushed, waiting for a favorable opportunity 
for an attack^ when they were dispersed in a manner, so that it was 
impossible to concentrate to .repel them. They rushed forth from 
their concealment and killed most of the men, and captured the 
women and carried them to the mountains. 

This v/as a very heavy blow to Ponce de Leon, and depressed 
him very much. Lie returned to Porto Eico and relinquished any 
further attempt to punish or subdue the Caribbees. His health 
liaving become very much impaired by overwork and exposure, he 
gave the command of the fleet to Captain Zuniga. He remained 
ill Porto Eico some time. 

Hearing of the brilliant exploits of Cortez, he came to the con- 
clusion that Florida was a field which would equal and eclipse any 
of the previous discoveries heretofore made, even to the famed con- 
quest of Mexico. 



24 Ponce de Leon Land. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Ponce de Leon's Last Voyage — Attempted Settlement oe 
Florida— His Death and Burial in Cuba. 

IN 1521 Ponce de Leon fitted out two ships and embarked on his 
last voyage of discovery and exploration. He had fonnd that the 
land he had discovered was main land instead of an island, as 
he had previously supposed. His voyage was tempestuous, but he 
arrived safely. He landed with a strong detachment of troops and 
explored the country for some distance. They were attacked by a 
large party of Indians and driven back to their landing place. 
Ponce de Leon formed his men and made a determined charge upon 
them, which broke their attack completely. While reforming his 
men a concealed savage fired an arrow into his thigh close to the 
femoral artery. He was carried on board his ship and ordered them 
to return to Cuba ; the arrow had been broken in the bone and the 
surgeon was unable to extract it. Soon after arriving in Cuba he 
died and was buried with great military honors. He left a pack- 
age papers with his senior captain directed to Countess de Sato- 
mayor, and one directed to the Count Camina, whom he had ap- 
painted his executor, both of his own and the Countess' estates. 

In the package sent to the Countess he gave full instructions 
as to his wishes in regard to his own property, which was to be given 
to the Countess entire, except a few legacies that were given to his 
faithful survitors and a large one to the count. Thus ended the 
career of one of Spain's most gallant and faithful cavaliers. 

The following epitaph was inscribed upon his tomb: "In this 
sepulchre rests the bones of a man who was a lion by name and still 
more by nature." 

The Countess mourned the death of her gallant lover for sev- 
eral years. She never forgot the remark made by him at their part- 
ing, that he would find the fountain of youth or leave his bones to 
bleach in a Western wilderness. 

Some years after his death the Countess met with one of 
Spain's best and most respected noblemen, who gained her love and 
to whom she was happily married. 

The fountain of youth was the chief object of Ponce de Leon's 
explorations in this country. It is too evident for comment. That 
a tale so fabulous should gain credit among simple, uninstructed 
Indians is not surprising ; that it should make an impression upon 
an enlightened people apears in the present age altogether incredi- 
ble. The fact, however, is certain, and the most authentic Spanish 
historians mention this extravagant sally of their credulous coun- 
trvman. 



* St. Augustine is 29 degrees 50 minutes north latitude. 



Ponce de Leon Land. - 25 

Martyr affirms in his address to the Pope, "That among the 
islands on the north side of Hispaniola there is one about 335 
leagues distant in which is a spring of running water of such mar- 
velous virtue that the water thereof being drunk, perhaps with some 
diet, maketh, tho' old, young again ; and here I must protest to your 
Holiness not to think this be said lightly or rashly, for they have 
so spread this rumor for a truth through all the court, that not only 
all the people, but many of those whom wisdom and fortune have 
divided from the common lot, think it to be true/' 

We must remember the Spaniards at that time were engaged 
in a career of activity which gave a romantic turn to their imagina- 
tion, and daily presented to them strong and marvelous objects. A 
A new world was opened to their view ; they visited islands and con- 
tinents of whose existence mankind in former years had no concep- 
tion. In this delightful country nature seemed to assume another 
form. Every tree, plant and animal was different from those of 
the ancient hemisphere; they seemed to be transplanted into en- 
chanted ground. After the wonders which they had seen, nothing 
in the warmth and novelty of their admiration appeared to them 
so extraordinary as to be beyond belief. If the rapid succession of 
new and striking scenes could make such an impression, even upon 
the sound understanding of Columbus that he boasted of having 
found the seat of paradise, will it appear strange that Ponce de 
Leon should dream of discovering the fountain of youth ? 



CHAPTER X. 



The Second Attempt to Colonize Flokida, by Panfilo Nar- 
VAEZ — Its Failure and Loss of all the Party but 
Four. 

ON the 12th day of April, 1528, Panfilo Narvaez sailed from St. 
Jago de Cuba with four hundred men and forty horses. Land- 
ind near Charlotte Harbor, he took possession of the country 
in the name of the King of Spain, and promulgated in the Spanish 
language to the inhabitants of the country in the name of the King 
of Spain: "I, Panfilo de Narvaez, cause to be known to you how 
God created the world and charged St. Peter to be the sovereign of 
all men, in whatever country they might be born. God gave him the 
whole world for his inheritance. One of his successors made it a 
gift to the King and Queen of Spain; so that the Indians are their 
subjects. You will be compelled to accept Christianity. If you 
refuse and 'delay agreeing to what I have proposed to you, I will 
inarch against you; I will make war upon you from all sides; I will 



26 • Ponce de Leon Land. 

subject you to obedience to the cburch and His Majesty; I will 
obtain possession of your wives and children; I will reduce you to 
slavery. I notify you that neither His Majesty nor myself, nor the- 
gentlemen who accompany me, will be the cause of this, but your- 
selves only." 

While resting at a village near Tampa, Xarvaez was shown some 
wooden burial cases containing the remains of chiefs, and orna- 
mented with deer skins elaborately painted and adorned with sprigs 
of gold. Learning that the gold came from farther north, at a 
place called Apalachie, ^arvaez immediately ordered his men to 
march thither. With more judgment or prophetic wisdom his 
treasurer, Cabaca de Vaca, endeavored in vain to dissuade him. 
Having distributed a small quantity of biscuit and pork as rations,, 
he set out on the first of May with three hundred men and forty 
horses. They marched through a desolate country, crossing one- 
large river, encountering only one settlement of Indians, until the 
17th of June, when they fell in v/ith a settlement where they were 
well received and supplied with corn and venison. The Spaniards, 
learning that this tribe were enemies of the Apalachians, exchanged 
presents, and obtained guides to direct them to the Apalachian set- 
tlement. This they reached on the 25th, after a fatiguing march 
through swamps and marshes, and at once attacked the inhabitaiits 
without a word of warning, and put them all to the sword. The 
to^m consisted of comfortable houses, well stocked with corn, skins 
and garments made from bark cloth. 

TvTot finding the wealth he had expected, and being subject to 
the repeated attacks of the Indians, Narvaez, after a month's rest 
at Apalachee, divided his command into three companies, and or- 
dered them to scour the country.These companies returned after an 
unsuccessful search for gold and food. The Spaniards continued 
their march toward the north and west, carrying with them, in 
chai7is, the Indian chiefs captured at Apalachee. This plan of 
securing the chiefs of an Indian nation or tribe and forcing them 
to march with the troops as guides and hostages, seems to have' 
been adopted by each of the Spanish commanders, and always with 
disastrous results. The sight of an Indian chief in chains aroused 
a feeling of outraged friendship wherever they passed, and gave a 
premonition of the servile fate that would be assigned to their race 
whenever the Spaniards obtained dominion. These captives urged 
on the Indians to harass and persistently follow up the marching 
army, even influencing tribes that were inimical to themselves. 

Tbe march of Narvarez through the western part of Florida 
conti>ned until fall, with an unvarying succession of attacks and 
skirmishes at every halt, and often pitched battles at the, towns that 
lay in his path. Little progress was made on their journey, owing 
to the uncertainty of their course, the unproductive and difficult 



Ponce de Leon Land. 27 

nature of the country, and the unremitting attacks and obstacles 
opposed by the wily JLndians, who were ever on the watch to pick 
olf man or beast, and to prevent the collection of supplies. 

Disheartened at the continued losses sustained by his army, and 
despairing of ever reaching by land the Spanish settlement in Mex- 
ico, Narvaez, having reached the bank of a large river, determined to 
follow it to its mouth and take to the sea. Slowly they moved down 
the river, and arrived at its mouth in a sadly distressed condition. 
Despair lent them an energy that was fanned to a burning zeal by 
the hopes of being able to reach their friends and salvation on the 
shore of the same water before their view. A smith in their party 
declared that he could build a forge, and with bellows made of hides 
and the charcoal they could supply abundantly, he could forge from 
their swords and accoutrements bolts and nails for building a boat. 
Diligently they worked, incited by the memories of all their hard- 
ships and perils, and the joyous hope of safe delivery. Such was 
their energy and determination that in six weeks they constructed 
from the material at hand five large boats, capable of holding fifty 
men each. For cordage they twisted ropes from the manes and tails 
of their horses, together with the fibre of plants. Their sails were 
made from their clothing, and from the hides of their horses they 
made sacks to hold water. With these frail and clumsily-constructed 
crafts, open boats loaded almost to the water's edge, without a navi- 
gator in the party, or provisions for a week, this little army of des- 
perate men set out on the open sea, Narvaez commanding one boat ; 
the others were under the command of his captains, one of whom, 
Cabaca de Vaca, has preserved to us the account of this fatal expe- 
dition. 

De Vaca gives a long account of their voyage, and the hard- 
ships and misfortunes they underwent until they were all ship- 
wrecked. Out of two hundred and forty who started on the return 
only fifteen were alive. Narvaez himself was blown off from shore , 
while almost alone in his boat, and never again heard of. Only the 
four are known certainly to have been saved, Cabaca de Vaca, the 
treasurer of the expedition. Captain Alonz Castillo, Captain Andrew 
Orantes, a negro or Turk named Estevanico. 

Cabaca de Vaca and his companions for nearly six years pur- 
sued their journey among the Indians. During all this long period 
they never abandoned their hope and desire of reaching Mexico. 
Finally, after many strange adventures, De Vaca arrived at the 
Spanish settlement in Mexico, and was received by his countrymen 
with the .s^reatest consideration and rejoicing. 

Havins: been sent over to Spain, he presented to the crown a 
narative of the unfortunate expedition of N"arvaez, representing 
that the country contained great wealth, that he alone was able to 

3P 



28 Ponce de Leon Land. 

secure, and begging that he be made Governor. In this he was dis- 
appointed, however, but placated by the government of LaPlat, in 
South America. 

The narrative of De Vaca has been received by historians and 
antiquarians as in the mainjoracious, though describing some 
wonderful customs and people,-itl'slhe earliest account of Florida 
which we possess, having been published in 1555, and is of inestima- 
ble value. 



CHAPTER XL 



TiTE Third Attempt to Settle Florida by Hernando De Soto 
Results in the Loss of His Life by Disease, and all but 
Three Hundred and Eleven of His Command. 

MISLED by the fabulous stories told of the wealth of Florida, 
and by the still more deceptive account of De Vaca, and 
having before their eyes continually the immense treasures 
actually secured in Peru and Mexico, the Spaniards were satisfied 
that it only needed a force sufficiently large and ably commanded to 
secure to the conquerors even greater treasures in their northern 
possessions. They were, moreover, convinced that the Indian tribes 
would not defend, with such persistent valor and great sacrifice, a 
worthless country, when the incalculable wealth of the Aztec had 
been so feebly defended. 

At this favorable moment there appeared at court a man who 
was acknowledged to be eminently qualified to inspire confidence 
in any undertaking he might enter upon. No knight stood higher 
in the esteem of his sovereign or enjoyed greater popularity with 
the cavaliers than Hernando de Soto. Born of a good family in 
the northern part of Spain, he had early entered the service of 
D'Avalas, the Governor of the West Indies, by whom he was put in 
command of a detachment sent to Peru to reinforce Pizarro. Here 
lie exhibited a remarkable capacity and soon rose to be second in 
command. Having gained a valuable experience and a splendid 
reputation in the conquest of Peru, he was induced by Pizarro to 
seek pleasure or glory in another field, lest his own tjchievements 
should be rivaled by those of his lieutenant. A million and a half 
dollars was the sum which he received on relinquishing the field. 
This, in those days, princely fortune v/as but a small portion of the 
exorbitant ransom paid by the captured Inca. 

Returning to Spain, his wealth and achievements seem to have 
excited genuine admiration, rather than envy, and he at once be- 
came the favorite of the court. His martial spirit craved adven- 
tures, and he could not remain content with the dullness of court 



Ponce de Leon Land. 29 

life. He therefore petitioned the King to be allowed to fit out an 
expedition to occupy and settle the Spanish northern possessions. 
The country at that time designated a Florida extending from 
the Chesapeake Bay to Mexico, and, as was thought, embraced the 
richest portion of the world, full of all good things. De Soto's 
request having been granted, he was at once commissioned Adelan- 
tado and Marquis of Florida. A fleet of seven ships and three cut- 
ters was at once purchased, armed and equipped for the expedition, 
and, as it was De Soto's intention to colonize the country," much 
attention was given to provide a supply of such seeds as were desir- 
able to introduce. It is possible that some of the seeds scattered by 
the follov/ers of De Soto may to-day be reproducing themselves in 
Florida. 

The origin of the wild horse in America has also been assigned 
to the Spanish introduction at that time. So great was the desire 
to accompany De Soto, and so certain seemed the rich recompense 
of wealth and honor to be achieved under such a leader, that the 
complement of a thousand men was recruited with ease; of this 
number more than three hundred were gentlemen of rank — knights 
and hidalgoes of the best blood of Spain — who lavished their 
means in the purchase of arms and equipments, thinking that with 
these they would procure wealth in plenty. With this brilliant 
corps there were twelve priests to minister to the spiritual welfare of 
the Spaniards or Indians, or both. 

Leaving Spain in the spring, the fleet proceeded as far as Cuba, 
where it w^as delayed awhile in completing the arrangements. Here 
De Soto married the Lady Isabella, a sister of the famous Bovadilla. 
The enjoyment of the society of his new wife, however, could not 
detain him from the pursuit of honor. In May, 1539, he left Cuba, 
and landed in Florida on Whit Sunday in the same month. The 
bay in which they landed, now called Tampa Bay, was named by 
them "Espiritu Santo," in honor of the day on which they arrived. 
A detailed' account of the march of De Soto would be too long for a 
work like this. Soon after beginning the march northward the 
advance guard of the Spaniard fell in with a body of Indians, who 
■advanced, apparently, to oppose them. The Spanish captain, 
thinking it was an assault, ordered a charge, when, greatly to their 
surprise, they heard the Spanish tongue in a tone of supplication 
not to kill one of their own countrymen. The speaker proved to 
be the captive Ortiz, before mentioned. Having acquired a knowl- 
edge of the Indians and their language, he was a great acquisition 
to the command, although unable, from restricted confinement, to 
give satisfactory reply to the first question asked him by his country- 
man, "Where is there any gold to be found?" By the advice of 
Ortiz, or from motives of policy, De Soto pursued a pacific policy 
at first, and met with friendly treatment and generous supplies of 



30 Ponce de Leon Land. 

provisions at the various Indian towns. The Indians at that time 
seemed to have paid considerable attention to agriculture, and to 
have lived in towns that were rudely fortified, and built with very 
considerable dwelling houses and barns. Some of the houses of 
the chiefs are described as more than a hundred feet long, contain- 
ing many rooms and set upon artificial mounds. They were built 
of paliugs sometimes plastered with clay and covered with thatch. 
At nearly every town the Spaniards found provisions stored, con- 
sisting of walnuts, dried grapes, beans, millet and corn, besides 
growing vegetables, among which are mentioned beets. Some of 
the towns must have been very large, as many as six thousand inhab- 
itants dwelling in and around several mentioned. At one town 
called Mabilla the baggage and valuables of the Spaniards were 
carried within the palisades by the Indians forced to transport 
them. Then an attack was made upon the town and twenty-five 
hundred of the savages were slain. The chief and a company of 
natives to transport the baggage were seized at every town, unless 
packmen were voluntarily secured. After marching a short dis- 
tance away from their homes, the women were allowed their free- 
dom, but the men were led by chains attached to a Spanish soldier. 
Arriving at another town, these bondsmen were released and new 
captives taken, to be, in turn, exchanged further on. In this man- 
ner did De Soto march through what is Florida, thence in a north 
direction through Georgia into South Carolina, thence back to the 
vicinity of Pensacola. 

While in South Carolina De Soto fell in with an intelligent 
race of Indians, whose sovereign was a woman. Here he secured a 
large store of pearls, nearly three hundred pounds, some of which 
Avere said to be worth their weight in gold. These, however, were 
all lost, together with the other valuables and baggage, in the burning 
of the town Mabilla. 

Trusting to the disingenuous tales of the Indians, and ever 
led on by his overweening faith in the existence of vast stores of 
gold, De Soto had marched on and ever further on, until, consuming 
a year's time, he had made a complete circuit of the country, and 
found himself empty-handed within six days march of Pensacola, 
then called Ochus. Here he had ordered his lieutenant, Maldo- 
nado, to await his arrival with the ships he had sent back to Cuba 
for a supply of provisions and mining tools. 

De Soto at this time exhibited that masterly force of character 
which had secured his former success and his great infiuence. Un- 
willing to endure the disgrace that would attach to an unsuccessful 
issue of the expedition — a disaster which, with the unfortunate 
results of former expeditions, he feared would preclude any further 
attempts to settle the Spanish domains in Florida — he resolved to 
conceal from his followers their location and the nearness of the 



Ponce de Leon Land. 31 

fleet, lest, being disheartened by their want of success and worse 
than uncertain prospect of the future, they would refuse to con- 
tinue on, and, taking possession of the ship, set sail for the West 
Indies. He therefore forbade Ortiz to mention to the troops the 
arrival of Maldonado, which had been learned from the Indians. 
Eecruiting his men and horses by a short rest, he marched on again 
into the unknown wilderness, and turned his back upon home, 
friends, and all that makes life worth living. Still searching for 
gold, he marched from region to region, ever meeting and overcom- 
ing difficulties and opposition, and yet unsuccessful. He pro- 
ceeded as high as the Cumberland river, then, turning west, crossed 
the Mississippi, and reached the Red river. In that region the 
Spaniards wintered, and in the spring De Soto retraced his steps 
to the Mississippi, having determined to reach the mouth of that 
river, from whence he could send to Mexico and Cuba for further 
supplies. The disappointment and mortification which his gallant 
nature had so long opposed was eating like a cancer into his heart, 
and, unsustained by a hope, which in other circumstances would 
have thrown off dis^ease, his body at last gave way to fatigue and 
malaria, and he began to sink under a wasting fever. Deep despond- 
ency settled down upon him as he thought of home, his young wife 
and all the comforts and prospects he had put so far from his 
reach. Calling his followers about him, he thanked them for their 
courage and devotion, and besought them to accept of his appoint- 
ment of a successor to lead them after his death, which he assured 
them was near at hand. His followers tried to afford him the reg- 
ulation comfort at such times, depicting this life as so fall of misery 
that he was most happy who was soonest relieved of its burdens. 
They finally received from him the appointment of Louis Moscoza 
as their captain. 

Shortly after, on the 21st day of May, 1542, died that chival- 
rous knight, Don Hernando de Soto, Governor of Cuba and Ade- 
lantade of Florida, far from his native land, in the wilderness on the 
bank of the great Father of Waters, whose vast and turbid flow 
ever recalls his great name and deeds, and whose discovery has 
proved his most enduring remembrance. 

Desirous of impressing the Indians with the supernatural 
origin of De Soto, his followers declared that his father, the Son 
of God, had taken him to Himself, and lest their deception should 
be manifest by the sight of his dead body, the corpse was placed in a 
canoe, and in the night consigned to the waters of the mighty 
river. 

Immediately after the death of De Soto the Spaniards began 
to build boats and collect provisions in preparation for their long 
voyage. They continued thus employed until the annual floods had 
subsided, when they descended to the Gulf. Though continuously 



32 Ponce de Leon Land. 

receiving attacks from the Indians, they at last reached the Spanish 
settlement of Parnnco, in Mexico. Here they were received with 
joy and every kindness proffered them. Three hundred and eleven 
men kneeled before the altar in thanksgiving to God for their de- 
liverance from those distresses and perils which had swept away 
more than two-thirds of the gallant army that four years before had 
landed in Florida — an army that had overrun a country containing 
thousands of brave inhabitants, subsisted for more than three years 
on the country through which it passed, ever maintained the unity 
of its command and devotion to its valorous leader while he lived 
and executed his wishes after his death. 



CHAPTEE XII. 
Huguenot Settlement Under Ribault and Laudonniere. 

THE settlement of Florida originated in tl^ religious troubles 
experienced by the Huguenots under Charles the Ninth of 
France. Admiral Coligny, as early as 1555, projected colonies 
in America, and sent an expedition to Brazil, which proved unsuc- 
cessful. Having procured permission from Charles the Ninth to 
found a colony in Florida, a designation which embraced in a 
rather indefinite manner the whole country from the Chesapeake 
to the Tortugas, he sent an expedition in 1562 from France, under 
the command of Jean Ribault, composed of many young men of 
good families. The little Huguenot fleet touched first the harbor 
of St. Augustine, in Florida. Making their way along the coast 
they discovered Port Royal. They were charmed with the beauty 
of the scene, and chose this spot for their future home, and built 
a small fort, which they named Carolina, in honor of their King. 
Leaving a small garrison to defend it, Ribault went back to France 
with the ships for reinforcements. Civil war was then raging in 
France, and Coligny was almost powerless, but not discouraged. 
Luring a lull in the tempest of civil commotion another expedition 
was sent to America, under the command of Rene de Laudonniere, 
and made its first landing at the river of Dolphins, being the pres- 
ent harbor of St. Augustine. Laudonniere had accompanied Ribaut 
on his first voyage. They arrived in July, 1564, pitched their 
tents on the banks of the St. Johns, and built Fort Carolina. 
There was great dissoluteness among these immigrants; some of 
them turned pirates and depredated extensively upon the Spanish 
property in the West Indies. The remainder became discontented, 
and were about to embark for France when the fleet arrived with 
immigrants and supplies. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 3a 

CHAPTER XIIL 

Founding of St. Augustine by Menendez, 1565 — Attack Upon 
the French Settlement on the St. Johns. 

WHEi^ the Spanish monarch heard of the settlement of French 
Protestants within his claimed territory, and of the piracies 
of some of the immigrants, he adopted measures for their 
expulsion and punishment. Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, a 
brave military chief, was appointed by his King the hereditary 
Governor of the Floridas, on the condition that he should expel the 
French from the soil, conquer the natives and plant a colony there. 
In 1562 the site where St. Augustine now stands was an extensive 
village of the Selove Indians. Menendez arrived on the 6th of 
September, with a strong, armed force, and landed his troops in the 
harbor, giving it the name of St. Augustine in commemoration of 
having come in sight of the coast of Florida on the anniversary of 
a saint of that name, 28th August, 1565. Here he found three of 
his ships already debarking their troops, guns and stores. Two of 
his officers, Patano and Vincente, had taken possession of the 
dwelling of Indian Chief Selvoe. It was a large barn-like structure, 
strongly framed of entire trunks of trees, and thatched with pal- 
metto leaves. Around it they were throwing up entrenchments 
of fascines and sand; gangs of negroes with picks and shovels and 
spades were toiling at the work. 

Such was the foundation and birth of St. Augustine, the oMest 
town in the United States, and the introduction of slave labor upon 
this soil. The next day, with great ceremony and pomp, Menendez 
proclaimed his King^ Philip the Second, monarch of all North 
America. While Menendez was making haste to fortify his position 
at St. Augustine, Ribault was preparing to descend the coast, and, 
by a sudden attack, capture the Spanish fleet and cut off the set- 
tlement. This plan was ineffectually opposed by Laudonniere. 
His opposition to the plan of action adopted may have been the 
cause of his failure to accompany the expedition. Removing the 
artillery and garrison to his fleet, and leaving in the fort the non- 
combatants, including women, children and invalids, to the number 
of two hundred and forty, under the command of Ijaudonniere, 
Ribault set sail to attack the Spaniards on the 10th of September. 

They bore rapidly down until in sight of the Spanish vessels 
anchored off the bar of St. Augustine. Before the enemy were 
reached and the fleet collected for action Ribault found himself in 
the midst of one of those gales which occur with suddenness and 
violence on the coast of Florida at different periods of every fall. 
The tempest rendered his ships unmanageable and finally wrecked 
them all at different points on the coast south of Matan^as Inlet. 



34 Ponce de Leon Land. 

Meneiidez had watched the French ships as they approached St. 
Augustine. Observing the severity of the storm he was satisfied 
that the fleet could not beat back in its teeth should they escape 
shipwreck; therefore their return was impossible for several days 
after the storm should cease. Menendez determined to seize the 
favorable opportunity to attack the fort on the St. Johns. He 
gathered a picked force, and, with eight days' provisions, began a 
march across the country, under the guidance of two Indians, who 
were unfriendly to the French. The march proved difficult on 
account of the pouring rains and their ignorance of the country. 
The swamps and baygalls, many of them waist deep with water, 
proved so embarrassing that it took three days of laborious march- 
ing, amidst great discomfort, to cover the distance of fifty miles 
between the two posts. Immediately after the departure of the 
ships Laudonniere had set to work, with the force at his command, 
to repair the breaches in the fort that had been made when they 
had expected to return to France. He also began to discipline his 
men so as to be a guard to the post. For several days the regular 
watches were kept up by the captain who had been appointed, but 
as the gale continued they began to feel confident that no attack 
would be made while the weather was so inclement, and therefore 
ceased to be vigilant. On the night of September 19th the gale 
had been very severe, and at daybreak, finding the captain of the 
watch was in his quarters, the sentinels went under shelter. At 
this very moment the soldiers of Menendez were in sight kneeling in 
prayer. From prayer they rushed to the attack, gaining entrance 
to the fort. Without much opposition they began an indiscrimi- 
nate slaughter. Laudonniere, with twenty men, sprang from the 
walls and escaped into the woods, from whence he made his way 
across the marshes to a small vessel in the river, which had been 
left in charge of Captain Jacques Eibault, a son of the Admiral. 
From thence they proceeded to France, without making any effort 
to find their companions of Eibault's fleet or to learn their fate. 

An order from Menendez to spare the women, children and 
cripples put a stop to the massacre, though it is said, ^'to escape 
death they were forced to submit to slavery.*' The French account 
says that all men who escaped instant death were hung to the limbs 
of neighboring trees. This may be exaggerated, but it is certain the 
Spaniards suspended the bodies of some of the Frenchmen and set 
up this inscription, "No por Franceses, sino por Luteranos." 
Menendez found in the fort six trunks filled with books, well bound 
and gilt, from which the owners did not say mass, but preached 
their Lutheran doctrine every evening; all of which books he di- 
rected to be burned. 

Fearing lest Eibault should have escaped destruction in the 
storm, and returning should make an attack in his absence, Menen- 



Ponce de Leon Land. 35 

dez hurried back to St. Augustine. He took with him only fifty 
men, the remainder being left under the command of his son-in- 
law, De Valdez, who was ordered to build a church on the site se- 
lected by Menendez, and marked by the erection of crosses. After 
the completion of the church De Valdez was to use every effort to 
strengthen the captured fort. 

Arriving at St. Augustine, Menendez was hailed as conqueror, 
and having been escorted into the place by the priests and people 
who had been left behind, a solemn mass was repeated and the Te 
Deum chanted to celebrate the victory. 

Several of Eibault's vessels.were wrecked between Mosquito and 
Matanzas Inlets. Strange as it may appear, in the destruction of 
the whole fleet but one life was lost from drowning. It often hap- 
pens on the sandy portion of the Florida coast that vessels will be 
driven high upon the beach by the force of the swell and there left 
by the receding tide in a sound condition. 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

Massacre of the French Colonists by Menendez. 

ABOUT two hundred men had collected on the barrier at Matan- 
zas Inlet, while a large party with Eibault were gathered on 
the barrier farther to the south. The Indians soon after 
reported to Menendez that a large body of men were at the inlet, four 
leagues south, that were unable to cross. He marched with forty 
men for the inlet, and arrived at Matanzas the same evening. His 
course was down the beach on Anastasia Island, as the account 
speaks of his ordering the boats to keep abreast of him on the 
march. 

Having come to the mouth of the inlet one of the Frenchmen 
swam across and reported that the party there assembled belonged 
to one of the vessels of Eibault's fleet. Menendez returned the man 
in a boat, and offered a pledge of safety to the French captain and 
four or five of his lieutenants, who might choose to cross over and 
hold an interview. Upon this pledge the captain crossed over in the 
boat with four of his companions. These begged of Menendez that 
he would provide them with boats that thy might cross that inlet 
and the one at St. Augustine, and return to their fort twenty leagues 
to the north. Upon this Menendez informed them of the ca-nture of 
the fort and the destruction of the garrison. The captain there- 
upon besought that they be furnished with a vessel to return to 
France, observing that the French and Spanish kings were loving 
brothers, and the two nations at peace. Menendez, in reply, asked 



36 Ponce de Leon Land, 

if they were Catholics ; to which it was answered that they were oi 
the new religion. Then Menendez answered that if they had been 
Catholics he would feel he was serving his King in doing them kind- 
ness, but Protestants he considered as enemies, against whom he 
should wage war unceasingly, both against them and against all that 
should come into the territory of which he was Adelantado, having 
come to these shores in the service of his King to plant the holy 
faith, in order that savages might be brought to a knowledge of the 
Holy Catholic religion. 

"^Upon hearing this the captain and his men desired to return 
and report the same to their companions, and were accordingly sent 
back in the boat. Soon after, observing signals or signs from the- 
opposite shore, the boat was sent over to learn their pleasure. 

The French then endeavored to make some terms for a sur- 
render, with the privilege of ransom. There being many members 
of noble and wealthy families among them, as much as fifty thou- 
sand ducats were offered for a pledge of safety. Menendez would 
make no pledge, simply sending word that if they desired they could 
surrender their arms and yield themselves to his mercy, in order 
that he might do unto them what should be dictated to him by the 
grace of God. The French seemed to have had an instinctive feel- 
ing that it would fare hard with them should they yield themselves 
to the Spaniards, yet they were so wholly demoralized and disheart- 
ened by the misfortunes that had befallen them, that, after much 
delay and parley, they finally sent word to Menendez that they were 
willing to yield themselves, to be dealt with as he willed. The 
French were therefore transported across the sound in parties of ten 
at a time. As each boat load was landed Menendez directed that the 
prisoners be led behind the scrub, and their hands pinioned behind 
their backs. This course, he declared to them to be necessary, as he 
had but a small number of men in his command, and if left free it 
would be an easy matter for the French to turn upon him and 
revenge themselves for the destruction of their fort and Laudon- 
niere's command. In this manner was secured the whole body of the 
French that had collected on the southern shore of Matanzas Inlet, 
to the number of two hundred and ei.jjht men. Gf this number 
eight in response to an inquiry, declared themselves Catholics, and 
were sent to St. Augustine in the boat. The remainder were ordered 
to march with the Spanish soldiers on their path back to the set- 
tlement. Menendez had sent on in advance an officer and a file of 
soldiers, with orders to wait at a designated spot on the road, and as 
the parties of Frenchmen came up to take them aside into the woods 
and put them to death. In this manner the whole party were killed, 
and their bodies left on the sands to feed the buzzards. 

Menendez had scarcely reached St. Augustine before he learned 
that there was a larger body of the French assembled at the spot 



Ponce de Leon Land. 37 

where he had found the first party, who were constructing a raft on 
which to cross the inlet. Hurrying back with his troops, he sent 
a message to the commander, whom he rightly conjectured was 
Eibault himself. He told him that he had destroyed the fort on 
the St. Johns and a body of those who were shipwrecked, promising 
him a safe conduct if he wished to cross over and satisfy himself as 
to the truth of this report. 

Eibault availed himself of this oifer, and was shown the dead 
bodies of his men, who had been so cruelly murdered. He was 
allowed to converse with one of the prisoners, who had been brought 
in the company of the Spaniards. This man was one of the eight 
who Avere Catholics, and was spared from the former company. 

Eibault endeavored to negotiate for the ransom of himself and 
his men, offering double the sum before named by the French cap- 
tain ; but Menendez refused to listen to any terms, except an uncon- 
ditional surrender. After ineffectually offering a ransom of twa 
hundred thousand ducats, the French x\dmiral returned to his party 
and informed them of the demand of the Spaniards. In spite of 
the terrible fate of their comrades, which should have served as a 
warning of what awaited them, one hundred and fifty of the com- 
pany, including Eibaut, decided to surrender to the Spanish captain. 
These were transported to the island and disposed of in the same 
manner as the former prisoners, saving only a few musicians and 
Two hundred of the French refused to trust themselves to the 
four soldiers, who claimed to be Catholics — in all, sixteen persons. 
Spaniards, preferring the chance of preserving their lives on the 
inhospitable beach until they could find a way to escape to a more 
friendly country. These retreated back to their wrecked ships and 
began to construct a fort and a small vessel to return to France, or 
at least to leave the fatal shores of Florida. 

Menendez soon after determined to break up the camp, fearing 
the presence of so large a body of enemies in his midst. Having 
fitted out a fleet of three vessels to co-operate by water, Menendez 
marched his soldiers a journey of eight days from St. Augustine. 
Here he found the fugitives encamped and prepared to resist an at- 
tack. AVithout delay the Spaniards were led to battle. The French, 
being poorly equipped, foujjht at a disadvantage, and were forced to 
retire beyond the reach of the cannon of the fleet. Having captured 
the fortification, Menendez sent word to the French that if they 
would surrender he would spare their lives. A portion of the 
French refused to trust the pledge of the Spanish captain and with- 
drew to the woods. These were never heard of more. The remain- 
der came to the Spanish camp and surrendered. 

After destroying the fort and setting fire to the wrecked vessels 
and the ships the French had built, the Spaniards sailed back to St. 
Augustine, bringing with them one hundred and fifty of the French- 



38 Ponce de Leon Land. 

men. To this remnant of the proud army of Eibault the pledges 
given by Menendez were faithfully kept. 

It IS difficult to believe that the unfortunate condition of those 
shipwrecked Frenchmen far from their kindred or race, thrown 
destitute upon desolate shores, and begging so earnestly for life, did 
not move the heart of Menendez to feelings of pity. Doubtless a 
regard for his own safety, united with a furious fanaticism too 
effectually sealed the spring of charity in his heart. 

Let us hope that the sands of Florida will never again be red- 
dened by the hand of partisans. The result achieved by Menendez 
occasioned great rejoicing at the Court of Spain. Letters of con- 
gratulation and commendation were sent to him by Philip 11. and 
the Pontiff, Pius V. The Pope^s letter is an able, dispassionate 
epistle. After lauding the virtue of Menendez, he declared to him 
the key note to his inspiration and the motive of his labors should 
prevent the Indian idolators from being scandalized by the vices and 
bad habits of the Europeans. 



CHAPTEE XV. 

Pius Fifth's Letter of Commendation to Menendez. 

To Our Beloved Son and Nohle Lord, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, 
Viceroy in the Province of Florida, in the Part of India: 

Beloved Son and Noble Sir — Health, Grace and the blessing 
of our Lord be with you. Amen. 

WE rejoice greatly to hear that our dear and beloved son in 
Christ, Philip, Catholic King, has named and appointed 
you Adelantado thereof, for we hear such an account of your 
person, and so full and satisfactory a report of your virtue and no- 
bility, that we believe without hesitation that you will not only 
faithfully, diligently and carefully perform the orders and instruc- 
tions given you by so Ctitholic a King, but trust also that you, by 
your discretion and habit, will do all to effect the increase of our 
holy Catholic faith, and gain more souls to God. I am well aware, 
as you know, that it is necessary to govern these Indians with good 
sense and discretion, that those who are v/eak in faith from being 
newly converted be strengthened, and idolaters be converted and 
receive the faith of Christ ; that the former may praise God, know- 
ing the benefit of His divine mercy, and the latter still infidels, 
ma}^ be brought to a knowledge of the truth; but nothing is more 
important m the conversion of these Indians and idolators than to 
endeavor by all means to prevent scandal being given by the vices 



Ponce de Leon Land. 39- 

and immoralities as such as go to these western parts. This is the 
key of this holy work, in which is included the whole essence of 
your charge. 

You see, noble sir, without my alluding to it, how great an 
opportunity is offered you in fathering and aiding this cause, from 
which result, first, serving the Almighty; second, increasing the 
name of your King, who will be esteemed by man, loved and re- 
warded by God. 

Giving you, then, our paternal and apostolic blessing, we beg 
and charge you to give full faith and credit to our brother, the 
Archbishop of Kossano, who, in our name, will explain our desire 
more at length. 

Given at Eome, with the fisherman's ring, on the 18th day of 
August, in the year of our redemption, 1569, the third of our pon- 
tificate. 

(Signed) Pius Fifth, Pope. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 



Kefusal of Charles the Ninth to Take Notice of the 
Slaughter of His Subjects — Petition of Nine Hundred 
Widows and Orphans Unheeded — Menendez Strength- 
ens His Position. 

AS the exaggerated report of the cruelties practiced by Menendez 
spread through Europe, an intense and bitter feeling was 
excited. Indignation inflamed the breast of the French nation 
at the destruction of their fellow-countrymen, although the King, 
Charles Ninth, failed — in fact, refused — to take notice of the 
slaughter of his faithful subjects. A petition of nine hundred 
widows and orphans of those who had sailed on that fatal expedition 
with Eibault was unheeded by this sovereign. That the fate of the. 
Huguenots Avas merited as the common enemies of Spain, France 
and the Catholic religion was the openly avowed sentiment of this 
unnatural, unpatriotic King. 

Feeling the insecurity of his position, from which there was no 
place of retreat in case of a successful attack from a foreign foe, 
Menendez applied himself with the utmost diligence to strengthen 
the defenses of his new town, at the same time he instituted meas- 
ures to insure a permanent settlement,, and the establishment of 
civil rights and privileges. 



40 Ponce de Leon Land. 

OHAPTEE XVII. 

Laying Out the Town, With Its Defenses — Erection of a 
Church and Hall of Justice. 

THEEE is but little doubt about the first landing of Menendez, 
and the attendant ceremonies. It is certain that soon after 
landing the foundation of the town was laid on its present site, 
and the town, with its fortifications, regularly laid out. The city- 
was originally planned to be three squares one way by four the 
other. At this time a stockade, or fortification, was built upon the 
site of the present fort. About the same period a parish church and 
hall of justice were erected, and civil officers apointed. 

During the winter succeeding the settlement of the Spaniards 
at St. Augustine, there was a great scarcity of provisions in the 
colony, so that the settlers were forced to forage upon the neighbor- 
ing Indians and to depend upon such supplies of fish and game as 
they might secure. The danger which attended any expedition for 
> hunting rendered this but a meager source of supply. Satouriva, the 
chief of the Indians who inhabited the territory to the north, be- 
tween St. Augustine and the St. Johns river, had been friendly to 
Laudonniere, and from the time of the destruction of the French 
he continued unceasingly to wage war on the Spaniards. His meth- 
ods of warfare exhibited the same bravery and cunning that has 
since become characteristic of the Indians, never being found when 
looked for, ever present when unexpected. By the constant harass- 
ing attacks, encouraged by this chief, the Spaniards lost many valu- 
able lives, among them Juan Menendez, nephew of the Governor. 

To obtain supplies to relieve the distress of his colony, Menen- 
dez undertook a voyage to Cuba. The Governor of the island was, 
throuo^h jealousy, unwilling to render him any assistance, and he 
would have fared badly had he not found there four of his vessels, 
which had been left in Spain with orders to follow him, but, meet- 
ing with many delays, had only lately arrived in Cuba. 

With these vessels he returned to his colony, to find that during 
his absence a portion of the troops had mutinied and imprisoned the 
master of the camp, who had been left in command, seized upon 
what provisions there remained, and taking possession of a small 
vessel arriving with stores, had set sail for Cuba. 

Menendez, with consummate tact, succeeded in arousing the 
flaffdug interest of his colony in the extension of the true religion, 
and managed, by his courage and presence, to remove the cause of 
dissention. Desiring to be rid of a portion of his colony, who had 
proven quarrelsome, lazy and inimical to his interest, he sent a body 
of them, numbering one hundred, back to Cuba in one of the vessels 
going for supplies. The return of this vessel was anxiously looked 



Ponce de Leon Land. 41 

for, as the colony had begun again to suffer from a scarcity of pro- 
visions and from sickness. Without waiting for affairs to become 
desperate, Menendez sailed for Cuba to obtain the needed supplies. 
Upon his arrival he found the Governor of Mexico there, but so 
disparaging had been the reports of those who had deserted his 
standard that he was advised to give up his unprofitable enterprise, 
and the succor he requested was refused. His courage but rose as 
his circumstances became more adverse, and he determined not to 
relinquish his undertaking, nor to return emptyhanded to his fam- 
ishing colony. He pawned his jewels and the badge of his order 
for a sum of five hundred ducats, with which he purchased the 
necessary provisions and hastened back to Florida. Upon his return 
he was rejoiced to find that the distress of his colony had already 
been relieved. Admiral Juan de Avila had arrived from Spain with 
fifteen vessels and a thousand men and a large quantity of supplies, 
;and, what was most gratifying to Menendez, a letter of commenda- 
tion from his sovereign. 

Availing himself of the force now at his command, Menendez 
set out on an expedition to establish forts and missionary stations 
at different points along the coast, as had been his intention since 
his first landing in Florida. Several of these posts were, at this 
time, established by him in the territory then embraced in Florida, 
the most northerly station being on the Chesapeake Bay, which was 
the northern boundary of the possessions claimed by Spain. Priests 
or friars were left at each of these missionary posts for introducing 
Christianity among the Indians. Menendez became convinced that 
if all these establishments w^ere to be maintained, and the most im- 
portant work of teaching the natives continued, he must have larger 
missions and greater forces at his command. Hoping to obtain this 
aid from his sovereign, he set out for Spain in the spring of 1567. 
Upon his arrival he was welcomed by the King with many flattering 
attentions and assurances of aid in the furtherance of his plan for 
propagating the Catholic faith. 



CHAPTEE XYIII. 

Expedition and Retaliation of De Gourgues. 

WHILE Menendez was occupied in Spain in forwarding the 
interests of his colony, in France plans were being formed 
and a secret enterprise undertaken for an attack on the 
Spanish posts in Florida. 

Most inflammatory and exa,2"gerated accounts of ihe massacre 
at Fort Carolina had been published throughout France. One 
iiccount says of the Spaniards that, after taking the fort and find- 



/\ 



42 Ponce de Leon Land. 

ing no more men, they assailed the poor Avomen, and after having 
by force and violence abused the greater part, they destroyed them, 
and cut the throats of the little children indiscriminately. They 
took as many of them alive as they could, and having kept them 
three days without giving them anything to eat, and having made 
them undergo all the tortures and all the mockmg that could be 
devised, they hung them up to some trees near the fort. They 
even flayed the King's lieutenant, and sent the skin to the King 
of Spain, and having torn out his eyes, blackened with their blows, 
they fastened them on the points of their daggers and tried which 
could throw them the greatest distance. 

The French King had refused to listen to the appeals of the 
relatives of the Huguenots who had been exterminated in Florida, 
but, distressed by the destruction of their countrymen, and the 
harrowing accounts of the massacre, many of the nation had long 
felt 'it a mortification that an outrage so gross should have received 
neither redress nor rebuke. 

Among those whose zealous regard for the national honor was 
touched by the conduct of the French King, and in whose breast 
burned fiercely the fires of revenge, was the Chevalier Dominic de 
Gourgues. Appearing, as he does, in history, as the avenger of 
the sad destruction of his countrymen, in an expedition undertaken 
without solicitation, at his own expense and at the risk of forfeit- 
ing his own life by the command of his King, even if he should be 
successful, it is but natural that his character should have been 
extolled and his virtues exalted by all writers who have admired his 
chivalrous courage. 

De Gourgues was born of noble parentage at Mount Marsan,, 
in Guienne, and was said to have been a Catholic, though it is de- 
nied by the Spanish historians. His life had been spent in arms 
in the service of his King in Scotland, Piedmont and Italy. His 
career was that of an adventurer, ever ready to risk his life to 
acquire honor and reputation, and having little desire to amass 
riches. While serving in Italy against the Spaniards he was taken 
prisoner and consigned to labor as a galley slave. This ignomin- 
ious treatment of a soldier of his birth and rank left in his mind 
an unappeasable hatred of the Spaniards. His period of servitude 
was cut short by the capture of the Spanish galley upon which he 
served by a Turkish pirate, from whom, in turn, he was liberated by 
Eumeguas, the French commander at Malta. His experience dur- 
ing his imprisonment and escape seemed to have opened his eyes 
to the opportunities for plunder upon the seas. Soon after his 
release he entered upon a marauding expedition to the South seas, 
in whi;eh he secured considerable plunder. He had but recently 
returned home and retired to enjoy in quiet the property acquired' 
in his ventures, when the news of the destruction of Eibault's colony 



Ponce de Leox Land. 43 

reached France. Eager to retaliate by a severe punishment this 
outrage upon his countrymen, De Gourgues sold his property and 
with the sum realized, and what he could borrow on the credit of an 
alleged commercial venture, purchased and equipped a fleet of three 
vessels, one of which was nothing more than a launch. Deeming 
it impolitic to make known the object of his- voyage, he obtained 
license to trade and procure slaves on the coast of Africa. He 
enlisted for a cruise of tw^elve months a force of one hundred and 
eighty men, many of whom were gentlemen adventurers. He was 
careful to secure one, at least, of the men who escaped with Lau- 
donniere from Fort Carolina. M. de Montluc, the King's lieuten- 
ant in Guienne, a friend of De Gourgues, rendered him valuable 
assistance in securing his equipments. On the second of August, 
1567, he left Bordeaux, but was delayed by a storm eight days at 
the mouth of the river Garonne. Afterwards, having put to sea, 
he was driven by stress of weather far out of his course, and en- 
countered so severe a gale as to nearly wreck the fleet at Cape Fin- 
isterre. One vessel, in which was his lieutenant, was blown so far 
out of its course that for fifteen days it was supposed to be lost, 
which caused him great trouble, as his people earnestly besought 
him to return. The missing vessel, however, met him off the coast 
of Africa. Land was then kept in sight until they reached Cape 
Verde ; thence taking the direct route to the Indies, he sailed before 
the wind upon the high seas, and having crossed over, the first land 
which he made was the island of Dominique. From thence he 
proceeded, stopping at the island of St. Domingo to weather a gale, 
and at the- island of Cuba for water, wdiich he had to take by ionae, 
for he says, ^'The Spaniards are enraged as soon as they see a 
Frenchman in the Indies, for, although a hundred Spains could not 
furnish men enough to hold the hundredth part of a land so vast 
and capacious, nevertheless it is the mind of the Spaniards that 
this new world was never created except for them, and that it 
belongs to no man living to step on it or breathe in it save them- 
selves alone." 

De Gourgues had not revealed the real object of his expedition 
until after leaving the island of Cuba, when he assembled all his 
men and declared to them his purpose of going to Florida to avenge 
on the Spaniards the injury which had been done to the King and 
to all France. He set before them the treachery and cruelty of 
those who had massacred Frenchmen, and the shame that it was to 
have left it so long unpunished — an action so wicked and so humil- 
iating — and the honor and satisfaction that would redound to them 
in removing from the escutcheon of France this foul blot. The 
spirit of the address was suited to the French temper, and they 
professed themselves ready to fight for the honor of France wherever 
4P 



44 Ponce de Leon Land. 

tlie captain should lead. Proceeding on the voyage, the fleet passed 
the bar of the St. Johns river in sight of the forts which Menendez 
had constructed at the mouth of the river. The Spaniards mistook 
them for their own vessels, fired two guns as a salute, which was 
returned by the French, desiring to continue the deception. The 
fleet sailed north and entered the St. Mary's river, where they met 
a large body of Indians prepared to dispute any attempt to land. 
Seeing this, De Gourgues made friendly demonstrations, and sent 
out the man who had been with Laudonniere. The Indians readily 
recognized the Frenchman, and were delighted to find the strangers 
were of that nationality and enemies of the Spaniards. The chief 
proved to be Satouriva, the firm friend of Laudonniere. After 
learning the purpose of the expedition, Satouriva promised to join 
the command at the end of ten days with his whole force of war- 
riors, declaring himself eager to avenge the many injuries he had 
himself received, as well as the wrongs inflicted on the French. 

Among Satouriva's tribe was a white child, a refugee from 
Laudonniere's massacre at Fort Carolina, v/ho had been protected 
and reared as a son by the old chief, though the Spaniards had 
made strenuous efl^orts to secure possession of him or compass his 
death. This child's name was Peter de Bre, whom Satouriva had 
so faithfully defended, and he now brought him to the French ships, 
together with his warriors, as he had agreed. Being joined by the 
Indians, De Gourgues set out across the country, under the guid- 
ance of the chief, Helicopali, to attack the two forts at the mouth of 
the river. The Indians had promised to bring the command to 
the fort on the north side of the river by daybreak, but, owing to 
tfee difficulty in following the intricate paths and fording deep 
creeks, they were nine hours marching four leagues, and the sun 
was rising as they reached !he vicinity of the Spanish fort. This 
fort was built on Balton Island, near what is now Pilot Tomti ; the 
other fort was nearly opposite, in the vicinity of the present village 
of Mayport. Both were armed with cannon taken from the French 
at the capture of Fort Carolina. 

The Spaniards, not fearing a land attack upon the fort on 
Balton Island, had neglected to clear away the woods in the vicinity, 
so the French were concealed until they were close upon the fort. 
As they rushed from their cover the Spanish sentinel fired twice, 
when he was pierced by the pike of Alacatora, an Indian chief and 
nephew of Satouriva. The Spanish garrison were at breakfast and 
before they could be summoned the fort was filled with the French 
an^ Indians. So complete was the surprise that there was but little 
resistance. As many as possible were taken alive, by command of 
Captain Gourgues, in order to do them as they had done the 
French. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 45 

As soon as the Spaniards whose lives were spared in the attack 
•could be secured, De Gourgues embarked as large a portion of his 
soldiers as the boats at his disposal would carry, and hurried to 
cross the river to attack the fort at Mayport. The Indians, now 
wild with excitement, threw themselves in the water and kept along- 
side the boats, swimming with their bows and arrows held above 
their heads. The Spaniards in the fort had by this time begun 
to realize the situation, and directed the fire of their guns upon the 
boats and Indians. Their excitement and alarm was so great that 
they did not perceive a difference between the French and Indians, 
and, seeing so great a multitude approaching, they broke in terror 
and fled from the fort before the French reached the walls. The 
garrison of the two forts was near one hundred and forty men, all 
but fifteen of whom were either killed in the attack or slain by the 
Indians as they attempted to reach the mainland. 

The capture of these two forts occurred on the eve of the first 
Sunday after Easter, 1568. Crossing to the fort first taken, De 
Gourgues rested on Sunday and Monday. Scaling ladders and 
other preparations for an attack on the main fort were in the mean- 
time being prepared. While here a Spanish spy, disguised as an 
Indian, was recognized by Alacatora and brought to De Gourgues. 
From him it was learned that the French force was estimated at 
quite two thousand men, and that the garrison of Mateo, formerly 
Fort Carolina, was two hundred and sixty men. 

Hearing this report, De Gourgues was more anxious than ever to 
make an immediate attack. He directed the Indians to advance, 
some on each side of the river, and take up positions in the vicinity 
of the fort. Early on the morning of the next day he moved his 
forces up the river and gained a mountain covered with forest, at 
the foot of which was built the fort. . He had not intended to attack 
the fort until the day after his arrival, but while posting his men 
and the Indian forces, it happened that the Spaniards made a sally 
with sixty arquebusers to reconnoiter his forces. 

This body he succeeded in cutting off from the fort and totally 
destroying. Seeing the fate of so large a part of their garrison, the 
remainder of the Spaniards left the fort in hopes that they might 
make their way to St. Augustine. Entering the woods, they were 
everywhere met by the Indians. None escaped, and but few taken 
alive. Entering the fort, the French found a number of fine cannon, 
besides a great quantity of small arms, such as arquebuses, corslets, 
shields and spikes. 

The Frenchmen were now upon the scene of the massacre of 
their countrymen, and, as the taunting ironv of the tablet erected bv 
Menendez was before their eyes, the spirit of venofcance was aroused. 
Ordering all the Spaniards who had been taken alive to be led to the 
place where they had hung the Frenchmen, De Gourgues rebuked 



46 Ponce de Leon LxVnd. 

them in scathing terms. He declared they could never undergo the 
punishment they deserved, but it was necessary to make an example 
of them, that others might learn to keep the peace which they had 
so wickedly violated. 

This said, they were tied to the same trees on which they had 
hung the Frenchmen, and in the place of the inscription which 
Pedro Menendez had put over them, containing these words in the 
Spanish language, "I do this not as to Frenchmen, but Lutherans," 
so De Gourgues in like manner, erected an inscription that he had 
done this to them not as to Spaniards, nor as to outcasts, but as to 
traitors, thieves and murderers. 

One of the Spaniards is said to have confessed that he had hung 
up five Frenchmen with his own hand, and acknowledged that God 
had brought him to the punishment he deserved. The next day, 
while frying fish, an Indian set fire to a train of powder laid by the 
Spaniards, which had not been discovered, and the whole interior 
of the fort was destroyed. Being aware that his forces Vv'ere too 
weak to hold the country, and having accomplished all that he 
crossed the ocean to perform, De Gourgues completed the destruc- 
tion of the fort and, bidding adieu to the Indians, sailed for France. 
The fleet arrived at La Eochelle on the 6th of June, after a voyage 
of thirty-four days. The loss of life in the enterprise had been but 
"a few gentlemen of good birth," a few soldiers in the attack, and 
eight men on the launch which was lost at sea. 

Being received with all honor, courtesy and kind treatment by 
the citizens of La Eochelle, where he remained a few davs, De 
Gourgues then sailed for Bordeaux. The Spaniards being advised 
of his arrival, and what he had done in Florida, sent a large ship and 
eighteen launches to surprise and capture him. This formidable 
fleet arrived in the roadstead of La Eochelle the very day of his de- 
parture. The head of De Gourgues was demanded and price set 
upon it by the King of Spain. Though his acts were remidiated by 
the French King, he was protected and concealed by Maris^ny, 
president of the council, and by the receiver, Vacquieux. After a 
time he was the recipient of marked honors at the French court, and 
died in 1582, to the great grief of such as knew him. 

Thus ends the sad drama of the slaughter of twelve hundred 
men or more. That both Menendez and De Gourgues deserved great 
censure, no one can deny. We must remember, however, that if 
Menendez had taken all the Frenchmen prisoners that he killed, 
famine would have stared him in the face. He v/as anpmnted Ade- 
lantado of Florida under the promise of driving out the French and 
colonizins: this territory. Could he have fed the French prisoners 
if he had captured them? Would it not have caused the abandon- 
ment of the colonization of this territorv? His great care and 
sacrifice for his colony in after years, and his great labor for the 



Ponce de Leon Land. 47 

establishment of the Christian religion mong the Indians shows 
conclusively that he was not altogether hard of heart. 

Who can tell what would have been the result of French colo- 
nization in this territory at this time, instead of the Spanish, to 
whom it undoubtedly belonged by right of discovery? 

That De Gourgues was influenced by revenge for the indigni- 
ties placed upon him while a prisoner of war in the hands of the 
Spaniards cannot be doubted. His great patriotism, the honor of 
his country, together with the exaggerated report of the cruel 
slaughter of his countrymen, led him to this terrible retribution and 
slaughter of the Spaniards. 

V\^hile these events were transpiring Menendez had completed 
his equipment, and sailed with a fresh supply of men and means for 
his colonies in Florida. His first information of the disaster which 
had overtaken his post on the St. Johns was received after his 
arrival at St. Augustine. So humiliating a disaster as the capture 
of three of his forts, well fortified and garrisoned with four hundred 
trained men, was the occasion of great mortification and vexation to 
this gallant knight,viespecially since the victors were the avengers of 
the former colonists, and the forces that accomplished the affair 
were so greatly outnumbered by his soldiers, who were also well de- 
fended by strong forts. To add to the discouragement, the condi- 
tion of the colony at St. Augustine was found to be most distressing. 
The garrison was nearly naked, the colonists half starved, and the 
attacks of the Indians growing more frequent and reckless as the 
weakness and despondency of the Spaniards became more apparent. 
The intrepid and indomitable spirit of Menendez did not bend un- 
der these obstacles and reverses, which would have crushed a nature 
of ordinary mould. His extraordinary and comprehensive genius 
opened a way, in the midst of almost superhuman difBculties, for 
the maintenance of his colony and the extension of the Catholic 
faith, the object to which his life was now devoted. Perceiving the 
insecurity of the garrisons at a distance from each other, and the 
principal post, he wisely concluded to preserve his force entire for 
St. Augustine, and thus maintain the colony and a base of opera- 
tions. The spread of the Catholic faith he determined to secure by 
inducing the different tribes of Indians to receive and support one or 
more missionaries or teachers. At the earnest solicitation of Menen- 
dez large numbers of priests, friars and brothers of the various 
religious orders of the Catholic Church had been sent to Florida by 
the King of Spain. Mission houses were built all over the country, 
from the Florida capes on the south to the Chesapeake on the north, 
and the IMisissippi on the west, to which these teachers, being mostly 
Franciscans, were sent. By the mildness of their manners, the 
promise of future joys and rewards which their teachings declared, 
and the interest excited bv the introduction of the arts of civilized 



48 Ponce de Leon Land. 

life, they gained a powerful ascendency over the native tribes, that 
promised at one period the conversion of the whole North American 
Indian race to the religion and customs of their Christian teachers. 
This would have amply compensated for all the efforts, treasures 
and lives expended by the Europeans in the conquest of the New 
World; in fact, it would have been a wonderful revolution, that 
might well have been considered a miraculous dispensation of Prov- 
idence. 

It is due to the grand, comprehensive conception of Menendez 
that there was initiated this plan of mission stations through the 
Floridas, which so nearly accomplished this happy result. That the 
ultimate success of the efforts to Christianize the Indians was not 
attained was probably owing to the political changes that occurred 
in Europe in the eighteenth century. In both France and Spain 
the Jesuits fell into disgrace, and the most rigorous means of sup- 
pression and banishment were adopted against them. The Jesuit 
mission in Florida shared the fate of their order in the Old World, 
and thus the encouraging prospect of Christianizing the Indians was 
swept away forever. 

Under Menendez and his immediate successors, whom he 
named and who followed his coimsels,' were founded those mission- 
ary establishments whose ruins have been at a later period a subject 
of curious investigation through Middle Florida. Menendez, find- 
ing that the interests of the colony were neglected at the Spanish 
court, and that the maintenance of the colony was daily impoverish- 
ing himself, resolved to return permanently to Spain, where he 
hoped that his influence would be able to accomplish more benefit 
to the undertaking in Florida than could be expected to accrue from 
his presence in the territory. Leaving the province under the com- 
mand of his nephew, Don Pedro Menendez, he sailed for Spain in 
1572. Upon his arrival all the honors of the court were lavished 
upon him, and his counsels were eagerly sous^ht in the various affairs 
of state. He was not destined to enjoy his honors long,, nor to reap 
new laurels in the European wars of the Spanish crown. In the 
midst of his glory his career was suddenly ended by his death from 
fever in 1574. His rank and memory are perpetuated in the church 
of St. TSTicholas at Orbilas by a monument, on which is inscribed 
the following epitaph: 

"Here lies buried the illustrious Captain Pedro Menendez de 
AviTes, a native of this city, Adelantado of the Province of Florida. 
Kniaht Commander of Santa Cruz, of the Order of Santiaao, and 
Captain General of the Oceanic seas, and of the Armada which his 
Poiinl TTinhnPs<i collected at Sajitander, in the year 157 J^, inhere he 
died on the 17th of September of that year, in the fifty-fifth year 
of his agef 



Ponce de Leon Land. 49 

Following out the instructions of Menendez, De las Alas, the 
new Governor of Florida^ assembled a council from the different 
missions in the province for the purpose of considering methods of 
extending the Catholic faith. In pursuance of the advice of this 
council, embassies were sent to all the tribes of Indians for several 
hundred miles around St. Augustine. 

Spanish garrisons and many Spanish monks to teach the 
Indians had already been received into the towns east of the Apa- 
lachicola river. In 1583 the Chickasaws, Toccoposcas, Apacas, Ta- 
maicas, Apiscas and Alabamas received the missionaries. At this 
period the Catholic faith was recognized as far west as the Missis- 
sippi and as far north as the mountains of Georgia. 

The Franciscans and Dominicans had been the first to repre- 
sent the monks in the New World. Afterward came the Fathers of 
Mercy, the Augustinians and the Jesuits. Although Florida was 
included in the diocese of the Bishop of Cuba, it was decided to 
establish a convent of the Order of St. Francis at St. Augustine. 
I find the name originally given to this convent was the "Conception 
of Our Lady," though it is generally referred to as St. Helena. 

This name, St. Helena, was applied to all the establishments 
throughout the province, of which the great Franciscan house at St. 
Augustine was to be the center. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Attack of Sir Francis Drake on St. Augustine, 8th op May^ 
1586, Capturing £2,000 Sterling. 

NIKE years had elapsed from the death of Menendez, the colony 
at St. Augustine had slowly progressed into the settlement of 
a small town, but the importance which the presence of Me- 
nendez had given it was much lessened. In 1586, Sir Francis Drake, 
Avith a fleet, returning from South America, discovered the Spanish 
lookout upon Anastasia Island, and sent boats ashore to ascertain 
something with reference to it. Marching up the shore, they dis- 
covered across the bay a fort and a town built of wood. 

Proceeding toward the fort, which bore the name of San Juan 
de Pinos, some guns were fired upon them from it; they retired 
toward their vessel. The same evening a fifer made his appearance 
and informed them that he was a Frenchman, detained a prisoner 
there, and that the Spaniards had abandoned their fort; he offered 
to conduct them over. Upon this information they crossed the river 
and found the fort abandoned, as they had been informed, and took 
possession of it without opposition. It was built of wood, and only 



oO Ponce de Leon Land. 

h^iirroimded by a wall, or pale, formed of the trunks of large trees 
set upright in the earth. The platforms were made of the bodies 
of large trees laid horizontally across each other, with earth rammed 
\\\ to fill the vacancies ; fourteen brass cannon were found in the fort. 
There was left behind the treasure chest, containing £3,000 sterling, 
designed for the payment of the troops in the garrison, which con- 
sisted of one hundred and fifty men. On the following day Drake's 
forces marched toward the town, but owing to heavy rains, they were 
obliged to return and go in boats. On their approach the Spaniards 
fled into the country. A Spaniard concealed in the bush fired at 
the sergeant-major and wounded him, and then ran up and dis- 
patched him. In revenge for this act Drake burnt their buildings 
and destroyed their gardens. The garrison and inhabitants retired 
to Fort San Mateo, on the St. Johns river. 



CHAPTER XX. 



Establishment of Missions — Massacre of the Missionaries 
BY the Indians. 

THE garrison and country were under the command of Don 
Pedro Menendez, a nephew of the Adelantado, who, after the 
English squadron sailed, having received assistance from Ha- 
vana, began to rebuild the city. In 1592 twelve Franciscan mission- 
aries arrived at St. Augustine with their superior. Fray Jean de 
Silva, and placed themselves under the charge of Father Francis 
Manon, warden of the convent of St. Helena. One of them, a 
Mexican, Father Francis Pan J a, drew up in the language of the 
Yemasees his "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine," the first work 
compiled in our Indian languages. 

The Franciscan Father, Corpa, established a mission house for 
the Indians at Tolomato, in the northwest portion of the city of St. 
Augustine, where there was an Indian village. Father Bias de 
Rodriguez, called Montes, had an Indian church at a village of the 
Indians called Topiqui, situated on the creek called Conodo la 
Leche, north of the fort, and a church bearing the name of "Our 
Lady of the Milk" was situated on the elevated ground a quarter of 
a mile north of the fort, near the creek. A stone church existed at 
this locality as late as 1795, and the crucifix belonging to it was 
preserved in the Catholic Church at St. Augustine. 

These missions proceeded with considerable apparent success, 
large numbers of Indians being received and instructed both at this 
and other missions. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 51 

Among the converts at the mission of Tolomato was the son of 
the cacigue of the island of Guale. Wearying of the restraints on 
his passions required by the Christian law, he fell into great excesses, 
and at last went off to a pagan band. Finding kindred spirits there, 
he resolved to silence the priest who reproved him. They returned 
by night to Father Capa's village of Talomato. Taking up his post 
near the church, he waited for the dawn of day. When Father 
Capa opened the door of his little cabin to proceed to the church, 
the conspirators tomahawked him, and cutting off his head, set it on 
a pole. Having brought his comrades to imbrew their hands in 
blood, the young chief easily persuaded them to kill all the religious 
Spaniards. 

Proceeding, then, to the town Topiqui, they burst into the house 
of Father Bias Eodriguez. The missionary endeavored to show 
them the wickedness and folly of their conduct, which would entail 
punishment here and hereafter, but finding his words of no avail, 
he asked the Indians to allow him to say mass. They granted his 
request, moved by a respect which they could not understand. The 
good priest, with his expectant murderers for his congregation, 
offered the holy sacrifice for the last time, and then knelt down 
before his altar to receive the deathblow, which enabled him to 
make his thanksgiving to heaven. His body was piously interred by 
an old Christian Indian after the murderers had departed. 

Learning of the approach of a band bent on massacre. Father 
Michael Hanon at Assopo, said mass and gave communion to 
Brother Anthony Badajoz, his companion. They knelt in prayer till 
the apostates came, who first dispatched the brother, then with two 
blows of their war club crowned Father Michael with martyrdom. 
The weeping Christians interred the bodies at the foot of the tall 
mission cross. 

On reaching Asao the insurgents found that Father Francis de 
Velascola had gone to St. Augustine, but they lurked amid the vege- 
tation on the shore till they saw his canoe approaching. When the 
Franciscan landed they accosted him as friends, they fearins^ his 
great strength, seized him suddenly and slew him. Father Francis 
Davila, at Ospo. endeavored to escape at night, but the moon 
revealed him and he fell into their hands pierced by two arrows. 
Ar\ old Indian prevented their cruel work, and the missionary, 
stripned and sufferius-. was sent ashore to a pasran villaore. 

From thence the ferocious voung chief of Guale led his follow- 
ers ao-aiust several missions in other parts of the conntrv, which he 
attacked and destroved. to.o-ether with the attendant clerg-v. Thus 
upon the soil of the Ancient Citv was shed the blood of Christian 
martyrs, who were laboring with zeal well worthv emulation, to 
carrv the trnths of reliirion to the native tribes of Florida. Over 
two hundred and eighty years have passed away since these sad 



52 Ponce de Leon Land. 

scenes were enacted ; but we cannot even now repress a tear of sym- 
pathy and a feeling of admiration for those self-denying mission- 
aries of the cross, who sealed their faith with their blood and fell 
victims to their energy and devotion. The spectacle of the dying 
priest, struck down at the altar, attired in his sacred vestments, and 
imploring pardon upon his murderers, cannot fail to call up in the 
heart of the most insensible something more than a passing emo- 
tion. 

The zeal of the Franciscans was only increased by this disaster, 
and each succeeding 3^ear brought an addition to their number. 
They posted their missions in the interior of the country so rapidly 
that in less than two years they had established through the princi- 
pal towns of the Indians no less than twenty mission houses. 

On the 14th of March, 1599, the convent of St. Francisco, at 
St. Augustine, was destroyed by fire, and till the building could be 
restored the fathers occupied the hermitage of Nuesta de la Soledad, 
which had previously been used as a hospital. It was several years 
before it was rebuilt. 

In 1611 the prelate, St. Francisco Marrose, custodio from the 
convent of St. Francisco of the Havana, together with the St. 
Helena Fr. Miguel de Annon and Fr. Pedro de ISTocas, fell martyrs 
by the hands of the Indians, who are said to have pillaged the town 
after having driven the inhabitants to seek protection under the 
guns of the fort or stockade. 



CHAPTEE XXI. 



Capture of the Apalachian Indians — Their Work on the 
Defenses of St. Augustine — Progress of the Colony. 

IN 1638 the Apalachian Indians were captured by the Spaniards. 
They were subdued by the force sent against them. In 1640 

large numbers of them were brought to St. Augustine to work 
on the fort and other public works. At this period the English set- 
tlements along the coast to the northward had began to be formed, 
much to the uneasiness and displeasure of the Spanish crown, which 
for a long time claimed, by virtue of exploration and occupation, as 
well as by the ancient papal grant of Alexander, all of the eastern 
coast of the country. 

Their missionaries had penetrated Virginia before the settle- 
ment of Jamestown. They built a fort in South Carolina and kept 
up a garrison for several j^ears ; but the Spanish government had be- 
come too feeble to compete with either the English or French on the 



Ponce de Leon Land. 5S 

seas. With the loss of their celebrated armada perished forever their 
pretensions as a naval power. They were forced to look to the safety 
of their settlement in Florida. The easy capture of the fort at St. 
Angnstine by the passing squadron of Drake evinced the necessity 
of work of a much more formidable character. 



CHAPTEE XXII. 



Captain Davis" Attack on the City — The Commencement of 

the Sea Wall. 

IN 1665 Captain Davis, one of the English buccaneers, and a fleet 
of eight vessels came on the coast from Jamaica, to intercept the 

Spanish plate fleet on its return from New Spain to Europe; 
but being disappointed in this scheme, he proceeded along the coast 
of Florida and came off St. Augustine, where he landed and 
marched directly upon the town, which he sacked and plundered 
without meeting opposition from the Spaniards, although they had 
a garrison of two hundred men in the fort, which at that time was 
an octagon, fortified and defended by round towers. 

The fortifications were probably very incomplete, and with a 
vastly inferior force it is not surprising that they did not undertake 
what could only have been an ineffectual resistance. It does not 
appear that the fort was taken; the inhabitants probably retired 
within the fort with their valuables. 

In 1687 Captain Don Juan de Ayala went to Spain in his own 
vessel to procure additional forces and munitions for the garrison 
at St. Augustine. He received the men and munitions desired, 
and as a reward for his diligence and patriotism he elso received 
the privilege of carrying merchandise duty free; being also allowed 
to take twelve Spanish negroes for the cultivation of the fields of 
Florida, of whom it is said there was a great want in that province. 
By a mischance he was only able to carry one negro there with the 
troops and other cargo. He was received with universal joy. 

Don Diego de Quiroga y Vosado, the Giovernor of Florida in 
1690. fiudino- that the sea was making: dangerous encroachments- 
upon the shores of the town, and reached even the houses, threaten- 
ing to swallow them up and render useless the fort which had cost 
so much money and labor to put in the state of completion in which 
it then was, called a public meeting of the chief men and citizens of 
the place and proposed to them, in order to escape the danger which 
menaced them and to restrain the force of the sea, they should con- 
struct a sea wall which would run from the castle and protect the 
city from all the danger of the sea. The inhabitants not only ap- 



54 Ponce de Leon Land. 

proved of his proposal, but began the work with so much zeal that 
the soldiers gave more than seventeen hundred dollars of their 
wages, although they were very much behind, not having been paid 
in six years, with which the Governor began to make the necessary 
preparations, and sent forward a dispatch to the home government 
upon the subject. 

The Council of War of the Indies approved in the following 
year of the work of the sea wall, and directed the viceroy of New 
Spain to furnish ten thousand dollars for it, and directed that a 
plan and estimate of the work should be forwarded. Puiroga was 
succeeded in the governorship of Florida by Don Lauseano 
de Torres, who went forward with the work of the sea wall. He 
received for this purpose the means furnished by the soldiers and 
one thousand dollars more, which they offered besides the two thou- 
sand dollars, and likewise six thousand dollars which had come from 
ISTew Spain remitted by the viceroy. Count de Galleo, for the purpose 
of building a tower for a lookout to observe the surrounding Indian 
settlements. The tower erected on the northeast bastion of the fort 
is evidently the one built for the lookout, sea and landward also. 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 
Governor Moore's z\ttack on St. Augustine, 1702. 



HOSTILITIES had broken out between England and Spain in 
1702. The English settlements in Carolina only numbered 
about seven thousand inhabitants when Governor Moore, who 
was an ambitious and energetic man, but with serious defects of 
character, led an invading force from Carolina against St. 
Augustine. The pretense was to retaliate for injuries, and, by 
iaking the initiative, to prevent an attack upon themselves. The 
real motive was said by Governor Moore's opponents at home to 
Iiave been the acquisition of military reputation and private gain. 
The plan of the expedition embraced a combined attack by 
land and sea. For this purpose six hundred provincial militia 
were embodied with an equal number of Indian allies. A portion 
of the military were to go inland by boats and by land under the 
command of Colonel Daniels, who is spoken of as a good officer, 
while the main body proceeded with the Governor by sea in several 
merchant schooners and ships impressed for the service. The 
Spaniards, who had received intimation of the contemplated attack, 
placed tliemselves in the best posture of defence in their power, and 
laid up provisions in the castle to withstand a long siege. The 
forces under Colonel Daniels arrived in advance of the naval fleet 



Ponce de Leon Land. 55 

of the expedition, and immediately moved upon the town. The 
inhabitants, upon his approach, retired within the spacious walls 
of the castle. Colonel Daniels entered and took possession of the 
town, the larger part of which, it must be recollected, was a short 
distance from the castle. 

The description given by Oldmixon is as follows: 

"Colonel Robert Daniels, a brave man, commanded a party 
who were to go up the river in periaguas, to come upon St. 
Augustine on the land side, while the Governor sailed thither to 
attack it by sea. They both set out in August, 1702. Colonel 
Daniels, on his way, took St. Johns, a small Spanish settlement; 
also St. Marys, another little village belonging to the Spaniards; 
after which he proceeded to St. Augustine. He came before the 
town, entered and took possession. Governor Moore not having ar- 
rived with the fleet. 

"The inhabitants having notice of the approach of the English 
had packed up their best effects and retired with them into the 
castle, which was surrounded by a deep and broad moat. They 
had laid up provisions there for four months, and resolved to de- 
fend themselves to the last extremity. However, Colonel Daniels 
found a considerable booty in the town. The next day the Gov- 
ernor came ashore, his troops following him; they entrenched and 
posted their guards in the church and blocked up the castle. The 
English held possession of the town a whole month, but, finding 
they could do nothing, for want of mortars and bombs, they sent a 
sloop to Jamaica to procure them, but the commander of the sloop, 
instead of going thither, came to Carolina, out of fear of treachery. 
Finding others who offered to go in his stead, he proceeded on the 
voyage, after he had lain some time at Charlestown. 

"The garrison all this while lay before the castle of Augustine 
in the expectation of the return of the sloop, which, hearing nothing 
of, the Governor sent Colonel Daniels, who was the life of the 
action, to Jamaica on the same errand. This gentleman, being 
hearty in the design, secured a supply of bombs and returned to- 
wards St. Augustine; but, in the meantine, two ships appeared in 
the offing, and being taken to be two very large men-of-war, the 
Governor thought fit to raise the siege and abandon his ships, with 
a great quantity of stores, ammunition and provisions to the 
enemy; upon which the two men-of-war entered the port of 
Augustine and took the Governor's ships. Some say he burnt 
them himself (certain it is they were lost to the English), and that 
he returned to Charlestown overland, three hundred miles from 
x^ugustine. The two men-of-war that were thought so large proved 
to be two small frigates — one of eighty-two and the other of six- 
teen guns. 



56 Ponce de Leon Land. 

"When Colonel Daniels came back to St. Augustine he was 
chased, but got away, and Governor Moore retreated with no great 
honor homewards. His periaguas lay at St. Johns, where the Gov- 
ernor retired, and from there to Charlestown, only losing two men 
on the whole expedition. 

"Arratomakaw, King of the Yamiaseans, who commanded the 
Indians, retreated to the periaguas with the rest and there slept 
upon their oars with a great deal of bravery and unconcern. The 
Governor's sailors, taking a false alarm and thinking the Spaniards 
were coming, did not like the slow pace of the Indian King in his 
flight ; to quicken him bade him to make more haste, but he replied, 
^^0, if your Governor leaves you, I will not stir until I have seen 
all my men before me.^ '' 

The Spanish accounts say he burned the town ; this statement 
is confirmed by the report made on the 18th of July, 1740, by a 
committee of the House of Commons of the province of South Car- 
olina, in which it is said, referring to these transactions, that 
Moore was obliged to retreat, but not without first burning the 
town. 

It seems that the plunder carried off by Moore's troops was 
considerable; his enemies charged at the time that he sent off a 
sloop-load to Jamaica. In an old colonial document of South Car- 
olina it is represented "that the late unfortuned, ill-contrived and 
worst managed expedition against St. Augustine was principally 
set on foot by the late Governor and his adherents, and that if any 
person in the said late Assembly undertook to speak against it and 
to show how unfit and unable we were at that time for such 
an attempt, he was presently looked upon by them as an enemy and 
traitor to his country, and reviled and affronted in the said Assem- 
bly ; although the true design of the said expedition was no other 
than catching and making slaves of the Indians for private ad- 
vantage and impoverishing the country. * * * rpj^^ expedi- 
tion was evidently to enrich themselves particularly, because what- 
soever booty, such as rich silks, a great quantity of church plate, 
with money and other costly church ornaments and utensils, taken 
by our soldiers at St. Augustine, are now detained in the possession 
of the said late Governor and his officers, contrary to an act of the 
Assembly made for an equal division of the same amongst the 
soldiers," 

The Spanish accounts of this expedition of Moore's are very 
meager; they designated him as the Governor of St. George, by 
which name they called the harbor of Charleston, and they also 
speak of the plunder of the town and the burning of the greater 
part of the houses. Don Joseph Curriga was then the Governor 
of the city, and had received just previous to the English attack 



Ponce de Leon Land. 57 

reinforcements from Havana, and had repaired and strengthened 
the fortifications to a considerable extent. 

The retreat of the English was celebrated with great rejoicing 
by the Spaniards, who had been for three months shut up within 
the limited space of the walls of the castle, and they gladly repaired 
their ruined homes, and made good the ravages of the English in- 
vasion. An English account says that the two vessels which ap- 
peared off the bar and caused Moore's precipitate retreat contained 
but two hundred men, and had he awaited Colonel Daniels' return 
with the siege guns and ammunition the castle would have fallen 
into their hands. 

In the same year the King of Spain, alarmed at the danger 
which menaced his possessions in Florida, gave greater attention 
to the strengthening of the defences of St. Augustine, and for- 
warded considerable reinforcements to the garrison as well as ad- 
ditional supplies of munitions for the troops. 

The works were directed to be strengthened, which Grovernor 
Curriga thought not as strong as had been represented, and that 
the sea wall in the course o*f erection was insufficient for the pur- 
pose for which it was designed. Sixty years had elapsed since the 
Apalachian Indians had been conquered and compelled to labor 
upon the fortifications of St. Augustine. Their chiefs now asked 
that they might be relieved from further compulsory labor. After 
the usual number of references and reports and informations 
through the Spanish circumlocution offices this was graciously 
granted in a compulsory form, until their services should be again 
required. 

During the year 1712 a great scarcity of provisions, caused by 
the failure of the usual supply vessels, reduced the inhabitants of 
St. Augustine to the verge of starvation, and for two or three 
months they were obliged to live upon horses, cats, dogs and other 
disgusting animals. It seems strange that, after a settlement of 
'nearly one hundred and fifty years, the Spaniards in Florida should 
still be dependent upon the importation of provisions for their sup- 
port, and that anything like the distress indicated should prevail, 
with the abundant resources they had from the fish, oysters, turtle 
and clams of the sea, and the arrow-root and cabbage-tree palm of 
the land. 

The English settlements were now extending into the interior 
portions of South Carolina. The French had renewed their efforts 
at settlement and colonization up the rivers discharging into the 
Gulf of Mexico. All three nations were competitors for the trade 
with the Indians, and kept up an intriguing rivalship for this trade 
ior more than a hundred years. 

There seems to have been at this period a policy pursued by 
the Spanish authorities in Florida of the most reprehensible char- 



58 Ponce de Leon Land. 

acter. The strongest efforts were made to attach all the Indian 
tribes to the Spanish interests. They were encouraged to carry on 
a system of plunder and annoyance upon the English settlements 
of Carolina. They seized upon all the negroes they could obtain 
and carried them to the Governor at St. Augustine, who invariably 
refused to surrender them, alleging that he was acting under the 
instructions of his government in so doing. 

In 1704 Governor IMoore made a sweeping and vigorous incur- 
sion against the Indian towns in Middle Florida, all of whom were 
in the Spanish interests. He broke up the towns and destroyed the 
missions attached to them. 



CHAPTER XXiy. 

Colonel Palmer's Invasion of Florida. 

IN" 1725, Colonel Palmer determined, since no satisfaction could be 
obtained for the incursions of the Spaniards and Indians, and 
the loss of their slaves, to make a descent upon them. With a 
party of three hundred men he entered Florida with the intention of 
visiting upon the province all the desolation of retributive warfare. 
He went to the very gates of St. Augustine, and compelled the 
inhabitants to seek protection within the castle. In his course he 
swept everything before him, destroying every house, field and im- 
provement within his reach, carrying off the live stock, and every- 
thing else of value. The Spanish Indians who fell within his power 
were slain in large numbers; many were taken prisoners. Outside 
of the walls of St. Augustine nothing was left undestroyed. The 
Spanish authorities received a memorable lesson in the law of retri- 
bution. 



CHAPTER XXY. 



Oglethorpe's Attack on St. Augustine, and Siege op Fort 

San Marco. 

ENGLAND claimed' and occupied the country up to the margin 
of the St. Johns, and established a post at St. George Island. 
This was deemed an invasion of their territory by the Span- 
iards. The post was attacked, unfairly, the English say, and some 
of their men murdered. Oglethorpe, upon this, "acting under the 
instructions of the home government,", commenced hostilities by 
arranging a joint attack of the forces of South Carolina and 
Georgia, with a view to the entire conquest of Florida. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 59 

The instructions of the King of England to Oglethorpe were 
that he should make a naval and land attack upon St. Augustine. 
"If it shall please God to give you success, you are either to demolish 
the fort or bastions^, or put a garrison in it, in case you shall have 
men enough for that purpose, which last, it is thought, will be the 
best to prevent the Sptiniards from endeavoring to retake and settle 
the said place at any time hereafter.'- 

Don Manuel Monteano was then Governor of Florida, and in 
command of the garrison. The city and castle w^ere previously in a 
poor condition to withstand an attack from a well prepared foe. 
On the 11th of November, 1737, Governor Monteano writes to the 
Governor General of Cuba that "the fort at this place is its only 
defense; it has no casements for the shelter of the men, nor the 
necessary elevation to the counter scarj), nor covert ways nor ravelins 
to the curtains, nor other exterior works that could give time for a 
long defense. It is thus marked outside, and it is without soul 
within, for there are no cannon that could be fired twenty-four 
hours, and though there were, artillerymen are wanting to manage 
the guns.'' Under the superintendence of an able officer of engineers 
the v/orks were put in order ; the ramparts were heightened and case- 
mated, a covered way was made by planting and embanking four 
thousand stakes. Bomb-proof vaults were constructed and en- 
trenchments thrown up around the town, protected by ten salient 
angles, many of which are still visible. The garrison of the town 
was about seven hundred and forty soldiers, according to Governor 
Monteano's return of troops on the 35th of March, 1740; the total 
population of St. Augustine of all classes was two thousand one 
hundred and forty-three. 

Previous to his attack upon the place General Oglethorpe ob- 
tained the following information from prisoners whom he took at 
the outposts: "They agree that there are fifty pieces of cannon in 
the castle at St. Augustine, several of which are brass from twelve 
to forty-eight pounds caliber ; it has four bastions. The walls are of 
stone and casemated. The square is nearly fifty yards. The ditch 
is forty feet wide and twelve feet deep, six of which is sometimes 
filled with water. The counter scarp is faced with stone. They have 
lately made a covered way. The town is fortified with an entrench- 
ment, salient angles and redoubts, which inclose about half a mile 
in length and a quarter of a mile in width. The inhabitants and 
garrison, men, women and children, amount to above two thousand 
five hundred. For the garrison the King pays eight companies sent 
from Spain two years since, for the invasion of Georgia. The com- 
panies numbered fifty-three men each, three companies of foot and 
one of artillery of the old garrison, and one troop of horse, one hun- 
dred men. Of these one hundred are at St. Marks, ten days' inarch 

5P 



60 Ponce de Leon Land. 

from St. Augustine upon the Gulf of Mexico. One hundred are dis- 
posed in several small forts." 

Of these outposts there were two, one on each side of the St. 
Johns, opposite each other ; one at Picolata, the other at Diego. The 
purpose of the fort at Picolata was to guard the passage of the river 
and to keep open communication with St. Marks and Pensacola 
when t&iey were threatened with invasion by Oglethorpe. Messen- 
gers were dispatched to the Governor of Pensacola for aid, also to 
Mexico by the same route. The fort at Diego was but a small work, 
erected by Don Diego de Spinosa upon his own estate. The remains 
of it, with one or two cannon, are still visible. Fort Moosa was an 
outpost at the place now known as North river, about two miles 
north of St. Augustine; a fortified line, a considerable portion of 
wlnieh may now be traced, extending across from the stockades on 
the St. Sebastian to Fort Moosa, with communication by a tide 
creek extending through the marshes between the castle at St. 
Augustine and Fort Moosa. 

Oglethorpe first attacked the two forts at Picolata, one of which 
was called Fort Poppa or St. Francis de Poppa. It was a place of 
some strength. Its remains still exist about one-fourth of a mile 
north of the termination of the Bellamy road. It is an earthwork 
and is still easily traced. 

After a slight resistance both forts fell into Oglethorpe's 
hands, much to the annoyance of Governor Monteano. Oglethorpe 
speaks of "Fort Francis as being a work of much importance." It 
commanded the passes from St. Augustine to Mexico, also to the 
country of the Creek Indians, also being near the ferry where the 
troops which came from St. Augustine must pass. He found in 
it one mortar to carriage, three small guns and ammunition; also 
one hundred and fifty shells and fifty glass bottles full of gunpowder 
with fuzes ; a somewhat novel missile of war. 

The English general's plan of operation was that the crews and 
troops upon the vessels should land and throw up batteries upon St. 
Anastasia Island, thence bombarding the town, while he himself 
designed to lead the attack on the land side. Having arrived in 
position, he gave the signal to attack to the fleet by sending up a 
rocket ; but no response came from the vessels. He had the morti- 
fication of being obliged to withdraw his troops. The troops were 
not able to effect a landing from the vessels in consequence of a num- 
ber of armed Spanish galleys having been drawn up inside the 
bar, so that no landing could be made except under a severe fire, 
while the galleys were protected from an attack by the ships in con- 
seq-uence of the shoal water. 

He then prepared to reduce the town by regular siege, wdth a 
strict blockade by sea. He hoped by driving the inhabitants into the 
castle to encumber the Governor with useless mouths ; to reduce him 



Ponce de Leon Land. 61 

to the necesity of a surrender to avoid starvation. The town was 
placed under the range of his heavy artillery and mortars, and soon 
became untenable, forcing the citizens generally to seek shelter of 
the fort. 

Colonel Vanderduysen was posted at Point Quartel and other 
troops upon Anastasia Island and the North Beach. Three bat- 
teries were erected, one on Anastasia Island, called the Poza, which 
consisted of four eighteen pounders and one nine pounder; one on 
the point of the woods of the island mounting two eighteen pound- 
ers. The remains of the Poza battery are still to be seen almost 
as distinctly marked as on the day of its erection. Four mortars 
and forty cohorns were employed in the siege. 

The siege began on the 13th of June. On the night of the 25th 
a sortie was made from the castle against a portion of the troops 
under command of Colonel Palmer, who was encamped at Fort 
Moosa, including a company of Scotch Highlanders, numbering 
eighty-five men, under their chief. Captain Mcintosh, all equipped 
in Highland dress. This attack was entirely successful ; the English 
sustained a severe loss, their colonel being killed, with twenty High- 
landers, twent3^-seven soldiers and a number of Indians. 

This affair at Fort Moosa has generally been considered as a 
surprise, and its disastrous result the consequence of carelessness 
and dipobedicnee of the orders of Oglethorpe. Captain Mcintosh, 
the leader of the Highlanders, was taken prisoner and finally trans- 
ferred to Spain. From his prison, St. Sebastian, under date of 
June 20th, 1741, he gives the following account of the matter: "I 
listed seventy men, all in Highland dress, and marched to the 
siege, and was ordered to scout nigh St. Augustine and molest the 
enemy while the general and the rest of his little army went to an 
island where we could have no succor of them. I punctually obeyed 
my orders until seven hundred Spaniards sallied out from the gar- 
rison an hour before dajdight. They did not surprise us, for we 
were all under arms, ready to receive them, which we did, briskly 
keeping up a constant firing for a quarter of an hour. When they 
pressed on with numbers, we were obliged to take our swords until 
the most of us were shot and cut to pieces. You are to observe we 
had but eighty men, and the engagement was in' view of the rest of 
our army, but they could not come to our assistance by being on the 
island under the enemy's guns. They had twenty prisoners, a few 
got off, the rest were killed: we were informed by some of them- 
selves they had three hundred killed on the spot, besides several 
wounded. We were stripped naked of clothes and brought to St. 
Augustine, where we remained three months in close confinement." 

This officer was Captain John Mcintosh, and his son. Brigadier 
'General Mcintosh, then a youth of fourteen, was present in the 



62 Ponce de Leon Land. 

engagement and escaped without injury. The family of Mcintosh 
has always been conspicuous in the history of Georgia. 

The large number of persons collected within the walls of 
the castle, under the protection of its battlements, soon gave rise to 
serious apprehensions on the part of the besieged of being reduced 
by starvation to the necessity of a speedy surrender. The batteries 
of Oglethorpe were planted at so great a distance that he could 
produce but little effect by shot or shell upon the castle, although 
he rendered the city itself untenable. The heat of the season and 
the exposure to which the provincial militia were unaccustomed 
soon produced considerable sickness and discouragement in the in- 
vadins: forces, and affected Oglethorpe himself. 

The Spanish Governor sent most urgent messages to the Gov- 
ernor of the island of Cuba, which were transmitted by runners 
along the coast, and thence by small vessels across to Havana. In 
one of these letters he says : "My greatest anxiety is for provisions, 
and if they do not come there is no doubt of our dying of hunger." 
In another letter he say : "1 assure your lordship that it is impossi- 
ble to express the confusion of the place, for we have no protection 
except the fort ; all the rest is open field. The families have aban- 
doned their houses and come to put themselves under the guns, 
which is pitiable. If your lordship, for want of competent force, 
cannot send relief, we must* all perish." 

With the exception of the Fort Moosa affair, the hostilities were 
confined to the exchange of shots between the castle and the bat- 
teries. Considerable discrepancy exists between the Spanish and 
English accounts as to the period when the garrison was relieved ; 
it was the communication of the fact of relief having been received 
which formed the ostensible ground for abandoning the siege by 
Oglethorpe, but the Spanish Governor asserts that these vessels 
with supplies did not arrive until the siege was raised. The real fact, 
I am inclined to think, is, that the vessels with supplies arrived at 
Matanzas Inlet, where they awaited orders from Governor Monte- 
ano as to the mode of getting discharged; that the information of 
the arrival, being known at St. Augustine, was communicated to the 
Eno^lish, and thus induced their raising the sie^e. In fact, the 
hope of starving out the garrison was all that was left to Oglethorpe. 
His strength was insufficient for an assault, and his means inade- 
quate to reduce the castle which was well manned and well provided 
with means of defense. 

It was, in truth, a hopeless task, under the circumstances, for 
Oglethorpe to persevere, and it is no impeachment of his courage or 
his generalship that he was unable to take a fortress of very 
respectable strength. 

The siege continued from the 13th of June to the 20th of July, 
a period of thirty-eight days. The bombardment was kept up 



Ponce de Leon Land. 63 

twenty days^ but owing to the lightness of the guns and the long 
range, little effect was produced on the strong walls of the castle. 
Its spongy, infrangible walls received the balls from the batteries 
like cotton bales or a sand battery — almost without making any 
impression. This may be seen on examination, since the marks 
remain to this day, in places where the walls have not been repaired. 

The prosecution of the siege having become impracticable, prep- 
arations were made for retiring. Oglethorpe as a pardonable and 
characteristic protest against the assumption of his acting from 
any coercion, with drums beating and banners displayed, crossed 
over to the main land and marched in full view of the castle to his 
encampment, three miles distant, situated at the point now known as 
Pass Xavarro. 

Great credit and respect have been deservedly awarded to 
Governor Monteano for the courage, skill and perseverance with 
which he sustained the siege. 

It is well known that the English general had, in a few months, 
an ample opportunity of showing to his opponent that his skill in 
defending his own territory under the most disadvantageous cir- 
cumstances was equal to that of the accomplished Monteano himself. 
The defense of Frederica and signal defeat of the Spanish forces at. 
Fort Simons will ever challenge for Oglethorpe the highest credit 
for the most sterling qualities of a good general and a great man. 

Two years subsequently Oglethorpe again advanced into Flor- 
ida. He appeared before the gates of St. Augustine and endeav- 
ored to induce the garrison to march out to meet him ; but they kept 
within their walls. Oglethorpe, in one of his dispatches, says in the 
irritation caused by their prudence, that they were so "meek there 
was no provoking them.'' As in this incursion he had no object in 
view but a devastation of the country and harrassing the enemy, he 
shortly withdrew his forces. 

A committee of the South Carolina House of Commons, in a 
report upon the Oglethorpe expedition, thus speaks of St. Augus- 
tine, evidently smarting under the disappointment of their recent 
defeat : 

"July 1st, 1741, St. Augustine is in possession of the crown of 
Spain, is well known to be situated but a little distance from hence, 
in latitude thirty deg^rees, in Florida, the next territory to us. It is 
maintained by his Catholic Majesty partly to preserve his claim to 
Florida, and partly that it may be of service to the plate fleet when 
coming through the Gulf by showing lights to them along the coast, 
and by being ready to give assistance when any of them are cast 
away. The castle, by the largest account, doth not cover more than 
one acre of ground, but it is allowed, on all hands, to be a place of 
^reat strength, and hath usually a garrison of three or four hundred 
men of the King's regular troops. The town is not very large, 



64 Ponce de Leon Land. 

snd but indifferently fortified. The inhabitants, many of whom are 
mulcittoes, of a savage disposition, are all in the King's pay; 
also being registered from their birth, and a severe penalty laid on 
any masters of vessels that shall attempt to carry any of them off. 
These are formed into a militia, and have generally been com- 
puted to be about the same number as the regular troops. Thus 
relying wholly on the King's pay for their subsistence, their 
thoughts never turned to trade or agriculture, but depended on for- 
eign supplies for the most common necessaries of life, they spent 
their time in universal and perpetual idleness. From such a state 
mischievous inclinations naturally spring up in such a people, and 
having leisure and opportunity ever since they had a neighbor, the 
fruits of whose industry excited their desire and envy, they have 
not failed to carry those inclinations into action as often as they 
could, without the least regard to peace or v/ar subsisting betv/een 
the two crowns of Spain and Great Britain, or to stipulations 
agreed upon between the tvv^o governments." 

Among the principal grievances set forth in this report was the 
carrying off and enticing and harboring their slaves, of which a 
number of instances are enumerated. They attributed the negro 
insurrection, which occurred in South Carolina in 1739, to the con- 
nivance and agency of the Spanish authorities at St. Augustine, 
and they proceeded in a climax of indignation to hurl their denun- 
ciations at the supposed authors of their misfortunes in the follow- 
ing terms : "With indignation we look at St. Augustine (like another 
Sallee), that den of thieves and ruffians, receptacle of debtors, ser- 
vants and slaves, bane of industry and society, and revolved in our 
minds all the injuries this province had received from them ever 
since its first settlement. That they have, from first to last, in 
times of profoundest peace, both publicly and privately, by them- 
selves, Indians and negroes, in every shape molested us, not without 
some instances of uncommon cruelty." 

It is very certain that there was on each side enough sup- 
posed cause of provocation to induce far from an amiable state of 
feeling between these neighboring colonies. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 65 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

History of the Inquisition — Ancient and Modern — Its 
Effects Upon the Settlement of Florida. 

TO partiall}^ explain the cause of the action of Pedro Menendez, 
during his governorship of Florida, I find it important to go 
back to earlier history to find the motive for such action. To 
understand the situation, it is necessary to give a part of the history 
of the Inquisition — both ancient and modern. It is claimed by 
seme that the inquision originated from God, and that Adam and 
Eve were the first prisoners brought before that tribunal, and fur- 
nished the model of the forms observed in the trials of the holy 
office. The sentence of Adam was the mark of the inquisitional 
reconciliation; his raiment, the skins of animals, the model of the 
San-benito, his expulsion from paradise the precedent for the con- 
fiscation of their property. This precedent is claimed to have been 
carried down to Moses, ISTebudchanezzer, King David, John the Bap- 
tist and even our Saviour, in which they claim to have precepts and 
authority for the holy office. 

Acts of intolerance have been committed by all denominations 
ei the christian faith since Christianity has been known, and always 
will be, without a doubt. The crusaders who swept so fiercely over 
the southern part of France in the thirteenth century, blasting the 
country and exterminating the people, first laid the foundation and 
erected the bloody altars of that tribunal. It would be unjust to 
say the Catholic Church or clergy were responsible for the actions 
of the inquisition. It arose during the feudal age, when mankind 
was undergoing a transition from the barbarous to the civilized 
state ; when a strong attempt was being made to establish a law that 
would give reasonable protection to all mankind. With what suc- 
cess we can only tell by looking back at the history of the world, 
from that time to the present. It was at a period of the world's his- 
tory when might ruled, instead of right; when the baser passions 
governed instead of the nobler ones; at a time when the greed of 
power, wealth, and rank held almost unlimited sway over the world. 
There have been too many brave and noble men among the Spanish 
clergy to give them the blame of the modern inquisition; many of 
their own number fell under the ban of that fatal tribunal. When 
we look back over the history of Spain, we find too many brave and 
good men to believe for one moment that it was knowingly sanc- 
tioned by them ; that it was established for political purposes by de- 
signing men, I think all will admit. That it ever received the sanc- 
tion of the church, wag through the action of a few, brilliant, but 
misguided, men, whose christian principles were badly warped, and 
almost completely obliterated, by their greed of power, wealth and 
rank. 



GG Ponce de Leon Land. 

When we look back over the bloody record of that fatal band, 
we wonder how it was possible for a people to submit to such an 
injustice. We can readily understand after reading the history of 
the inquisition, and with*^the knowledge that Pedro Menendez was 
a member of the inquisitional court, what was undoubtedly the 
cause of his action against the French Huguenots. He had been 
appointed Adelantado of Florida, with the full understanding that 
he was to expel the French from the territory claimed by Spain, 
which, at that time extended from the Gulf to the Chesapeake, and 
westward to Mexico. He evidently could not have furnished pro- 
visions for the two colonies, had he accepted the surrender of the 
French. It is evident that it was through the knowledge of the 
difficulties that he was placed in that he caused the massacre of the 
French after their shipwreck. He was strengthened in this course 
by the order of the Inquisitor General, as he was a member of the 
inquisitorial court, and received definite orders to banish or extermi- 
nate the French colonists, as they were deemed heretical at that 
time. In looking back, we can see the difficulties that Menendez 
labored under in the care of his colony, when threatened with starv- 
ation. He went to Cuba before his supplies had become exhausted, 
and, upon liis arrival, he found the Governor of Mexico 
had arrived before him; there had been such a disparaging report 
made by the men who had deserted his standard, that the needed 
supplies were refused him. It was under these adverse circum- 
stances that the manhood of Menendez shone out bright and clear 
as gold. He pawned the jewels and the badge of his order and 
raised funds cuoii,2:h for the necessary supplies for his colony, and 
at once hastened back to his distressed people. I think there can be 
no question about the action of Menendez, in the position he was 
placed with the Huguenots. 

After several modifications the detection of heretics was com- 
mitted to the Dominican friars. In 1233, a code for the regulation 
of their proceedings was formed and adopted in Germany and Italy, 
and introduced into Aragon in 1242, when additional provisions 
were established by the Council of Tarragona, together with those 
of 1233, which were the primitive instructions for the tribunal in 
Spain. 

The ancient inquisition bore the same peculiarities in its fea- 
tures as the modern ; the same secrecy in its proceedings ; the insid- 
ious modes of accusation and use of torture and penalties for the 
ofPender. The manual drawn up by Ea^inerich, an Arao^onese, in- 
quisitor of the fourteenth century, for the instruction of the 
judges of the tribunal, prescribed all those forms of interrogations 
i)V which the unwary, and perhaps the inno*cent, victims might be 
circumvented. The rules of the ancient were no less repugnant to 
justice than the modern, but were less extensive in their operations. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 67 

The persecution fell very severely on the Albigenses of Aragon and 
Provence, who were the principal victims of that time. 

The inquisition was not fully established in Castile until the 
reign of Isabella. It was certain that there was no lack of interest 
by St. Ferdinand, who heaped the fagots on the burning pile with 
his own hand, and John II., Isabella's father, who hunted the 
Basques like so many wild beasts. 

By the middle of the fifteenth century the Albigensin heresy 
had been nearly exterminated by the inquisition, when a new people 
came into prominence, that were frugal and industrious and had 
acquired wealth and power by their industry. The inquisitors saw 
at once what a chance there was to wring wealth out of these inof- 
fensive people, and Spain can't but blame herself for her loss of 
power by the expulsion of the Jews and Moriscos. That Ferdinand 
should have listened to the counsel of such men as Alfonso de Ojido, 
Diego de Merelas and 'N'icholas Francisco is surprising. That there 
was a deep-laid scheme by these men to confiscate most of the 
property owned by them is evident. Ferdinand's intercession with 
Isabella caused her to sanction the confiscation from her people. 

Isabella's serious temperament naturally disposed her to re- 
ligious influences, notwithstanding the independeuce exhibited by 
her in all secular afl'airs. In her own spiritual concerns she 
evinced humility and deferred implicitly to what she deemed the 
superior sagacity of her instructor. An instance of this is worth 
recording. Fray Ferdinand de Talavera, archbishop of Grenada, 
was appointed confessor to the Queen ; he remained seated. Isabella 
remarked that '^^it was usual for both parties to kneel." "No," 
replied the priest, "this is God's tribunal ; I act here as his minister, 
and I should keep my seat; your highness should kneel before me." 
Isabella complied at once, and afterward said, "this is the confessor 
I wanted." 

It would have been well for Spain if this office had been held 
by Talavera instead of being transferred to Thomas de Torque- 
mad a, a man who contained more pride, bigotry and intolerance in 
his heart than any man in Spain. His teaching went far to pervert 
the natural kindness of heart shown in most of Isabella's actions 
in life. 

It is due to Isabella's name to sav that it was through the 
influence of this man that she solicited from Sextiis IV. a bull for 
the introduction of the tribunal. It was through this intercession 
that he issued a bull N'ovember 1st, 1478, authorizing the apnoint- 
ment of two or three inquisitors for the suppression of heresy 
throughout Spain. 

On the 2d of January, 1481, the court commenced operations and 
published an edict requiring all persons to aid in apprehendins: all 
known or suspected of heresy. Every mode of accusation was indi- 



68 Ponce de Leon Land. 

catecl^ and the numbers increased so rapidly that it was difficult to 
find prisons for them. 

The inquisitors adopted the policy of the ancient tribunal, and 
proceeded with a despatch that could have paid little regard to legal 
form. Six convicts were burned on the 6th of January, seventeen 
in March; no less than 298 had been sacrificed in the auto de fe 
Seville (See page 252, Prescot, Vol. I., Inquisition), which was pre- 
pared on a stone pile, erected in the suburbs of the city, with four 
stakes attached to the corners to which the unhappy sufferers were 
bound for the sacrifice, and celebrated as the place where heretics 
Avere burned, and ought to burn, as long as any could be found. 

Many of the persons convicted were persons estimable for 
learning and probity; and among these three priests are named, 
together with individuals filling judicial and high municipal sta- 
tions. The sword of justice is observed particularly to strike at the 
wealthj^ the least pardonable offenders in times of proscription, 
which is evident was the cause of their persecution. 

Tbe p]as"ue which desolated Seville this vear, sweeping of fif- 
teen thousand inhabitants, as if in token of the wrath of Heaven 
at these enormities, did not parabj'ze the arm of that fatal tribunal. 
A similar persecution went forward in the province of Andalusia 
in 1481, two thousand were burned and a large number in effigy, 
and 17,000 reconciled. 

In 1483, Torquemada was appointed inquisitor general with 
power to frame a new constitution for the inquisition. This was 
the origin of the modern inquisition, which, for three centuries, has 
extended its fatal sway over Spain and Portugal. When arrested 
they were cut off from all external communication. Counsel was 
allowed by the judges, but they were not allowed to confer together. 
If the prisoner did not confess his guilt, or attempted to conceal the 
truth, he was subjected to the torture. This was administered in 
the deep vaults of the inquisition, where the cries of the victim 
could be heard only by his tormentors. The most odious feature 
was the confiscation where all the expenses of tlie court had to be 
paid before the crown received one farthing. 

The last scene in this dismal tragedy was the auto de fe. The 
most important actors in this scene were- the unfortunate convicts 
v/ho were now disgorged for the first time from the dungeons of the 
tribunal. They were clad in coarse woolen garments, styled san 
benitos, brought close around the neck and descending to the knee. 
These were of a yellow color, embroidered with a scarlet cross, and 
well garnished with figures of devils and flames of fire, which were 
typical of the heretics, which served to make them more odious to 
the multitude. The greater part of the convicted, however, were 
reconciled. If the culprit acknowledged his guilt, his crime then 
bore the character of sin and punishment was commuted to penance. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 69- 

The culprit prays, fasts and mortifies his body ; instead of going to 
the place of execution, he recites penitential psalms, hears mass, duly 
examines the state of hiai,conscience, becomes contrite, confesses his 
sins and finally is restored to his family and to society. Those who 
refused to recant were delivered over, as impenitent heretics, to the 
secular arm, in order to expiate their offense by the most painful 
death, with the consciousness still more painful that the^ were to 
leave behind them names branded with infamy, and their families 
irretrievably ruined. That a man like Torquemada, who had been 
the author of such crimes, should have been allowed to live to an 
old age and die quietly in his bed, seems impossible in this age. It 
would stren,2:then the belief in the Divine Power if this person had 
received a fair proportion of all the torture that he had inflicted on 
mankind, before his death; perhaps his constant apprehension of 
assassination was a small portion of his punishment. It is fortunate 
for mankind that the civil jurisdiction of inquisition was practically 
abolished in 1808. After looking over the history of the men that 
Pedro Menendez was associated with, prior to his appointment as 
Adelantado of Florida, it is not surprising that he massacred the 
French colonists. 



CHAPTEE XXVII. 
Completion of the Castle. 

DON ALOXZO FERTnTAXDEZ DE HERRERA was appointed 
Governor of Florida in 1755, and completed the exterior works 
and finished the castle. 

The fort and defenses of St. Augustine were 191 years in con^ 
struction, and cost the Spanish government over thirty million of 
dollars. The castle has never been taken by a besieging enemy. 
It is a noble fortification, requiring one hundred cannon and one 
thousand men to defend it. Since it came into the possession of the 
United States it has been strengthened by the water battery, which 
is a very formidable defense. The fort at St. Augustine was desig- 
nated Fort Marion, in honor of the memory of Brigadier-General 
Francis Clarion of the Revolution, pursuant to general order No. 
1, Adjutant GeneraFs Office, January 7th, 1825. 



70 Ponce de Leon Land. 

CHAPTEE XXVIII. 

The History op Fort Marion. 

THE 29th of June, 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles sailed from 
Spain in the San Playo. with nineteen vessels, carrying fifteen 
hundred persons, including mechanics of all kinds, for the pur- 
pose of establishing a colony in Florida. Other vessels followed, 
under the ommand of Stephen de las Alas, with quite a number of 
colonists, sev:)re] Franciscan fathers, and priests of other orders — 
twenty-six hundred and forty-six people embarked for Florida. 
Menendez expended a million ducats in fitting out his colony. 

He reached Porto Rico with only one-third of his fleet, they 
having been dispersed by a storm. There he learned that the 
French admiral had sailed before him, and capturing a Spanish 
vessel in the West Indies, thus opening hostilities. Menendez held 
a council of war and decided to proceed and attack the French, who 
had planted a colony on the St. Johns. He reached the coast of 
Florida on the 28th of August — the feast of St. Augustine. The 
Tc Deum was chanted with great solemnity. Menendez sailed up 
ihe coast in search of the French. Coming upon Ribault's vessels 
at the mouth of the St. Johns, he announced his determination to 
put them {ill to death. No quarter at that time was shown to the 
Spaniards on sea or land by the French or English cruisers. Those 
who escaped from the wreck of the armada on the coast of Ireland 
were all put to death without mercy by the English, unless they 
VvOre rich enough to ransom their lives. Onlv a few years before 
Jacques Saiie, a French commander, had burned Havana and hung 
his prisoners amid the smoking ruins. The terms announced by 
Menendez to the French were precisely those given to the Spaniards 
hy the French and English. 

After an ineffectual pursuit of the French vessels, Menendez 
sailed down the coast to the harbor of St. Augustine, where he had 
determined to plant his settlement. His resolution was to fortify 
his position there and hold out until the rest of his fleet arrived. 

Entering the harbor on the 6th of September, he sent three 
companies of soldiers ashore, under two captains, who were to select 
a site and begin a fort. A cacique gave the new comers a large cabin 
near the seashore; around it the Spanish officers traced the lines for 
a fort, the soldiers with their hands and anything they could fash- 
ion into an implement digging the ditches and throwing up the ram- 
parts. The next day, September 7th, Menendez landed amid the 
thunder of artillery and the blasts of trumpets, with the banner of 
Castile and Aragon unfurled. The priest, Mendoza Grajales, who 
had landed the previous day, took a cross and proceeded to meet him, 
followed by the soldiers chanting the Te Deum. Menendez advanced 



Ponce de Leon Land. 71 

to the cross, which he kissed on bended knee, as did all who followed 
him. The solemn mass of Our Lady was then offered at a spot the 
memory of which has been preserved on Spanish maps. It received 
the name of Nombre de Dios, as there the name of God was first 
invoked by the awful sacrifice of the new law. There, in time, the 
piety of the faithful erected the primitive hermitage or shrine of 
Nuestra Senora de la Leche. Thus began the permanent service of 
the Catholic Church in the oldest city in the United States, main- 
tained now, with but brief interruption, for more than three hundred 
years. The name of the celebrant is not stated. We know that, 
besides G raj ales there was present Dr. Salis Meras, brother-in-law 
of Menendez. 

'''be work of landing the supplies for the settlers, and arms and 
munitions for the soldiers, went steadily on, directed by Menendez 
himself. His vessels could not cross the bar to enter the harbor, and 
were exposed to the attack of the French. In fact, his boats while 
landing supplies were nearly captured by the French, who suddenly 
appeared. The Spaniards ascribe their escape to Our Lady of Con- 
solation at Utrera, w^hom they invoked in their sore strait. As soon 
as all needed by his settlement was disembarked, Menendez sent off 
his vessels and prepared to act on the defensive. His forces con- 
sisted of six hundred men at arms. The French were superior in 
numbers and had their ships. 

The first line of defense at St. Augustine was an octagon. The 
entrenchments were built with fascines, filled with earth and faced 
with logs, with ditches and slope. Earth and wood was the only 
material found at that time in this country that could be used in the 
construction of lines of defense. Menendez extended his lines and 
made an entrenched camp connecting with the fort for the protec- 
tion of his colony. They landed eighty cannon from the ships ; the 
lightest of them weighed two thousand five hundred pounds. 

The Spaniards kept their people at work extending and 
strengthening their lines. Menendez appreciated his situation and 
the immense amount of labor it would take to put his fort in a state 
of defense, and complete an entrenched camp large enough to pro- 
tect his colony in the event of an attack from the French. 

The fort was named San Juan de Pinas. In 1586 Sir Francis 
Drake landed on Anastasia Island. He sent his troops across the 
river and burned the city and captured two thousand pounds ster- 
ling in the fort. This money had been sent from Spain for the 
payment of the troops. The Spaniards retreated in haste when the 
Ensclish crossed the river, making but little resistance. The fort 
had been stockaded inside of the embankments, with loopholes for 
riflemen and platforms for cannon, built of large pine logs. 

In 1640, the Spaniards having subdued and captured the Apa- 
lachian Indians, they were brought to St. Augustine and forced to 



72 Ponce de Leon Land. 

labor upon the fortifications. At this period the fort and defenses 
of the town were built of earth and wood. The Governor, finding 
that there was great need of stronger and more permanent defenses, 
commenced the use of the coquina rock for the reconstruction of the 
fort and for building houses. The fort was strengthened by two 
large towers, mounting twenty-six guns. This gave them a much 
wider range for their guns than they had previously. They con- 
structed an exterior and interior wall, sixteen feet apart, filling be- 
tween with earth well rammed. 

In 1665, Captain Davis came up the coast with a fleet of eight 
vessels. He landed and sacked the town without meeting opposition, 
the inhabitants retiring into the fort for protection. Davis did not 
■attack the fort, although at that time it .was incomplete. After 
Captain Davis' attack on the city the Spanish Governor again 
changed the plan of the fort to a trapezium, with outer walls nine 
feet at the terrepleins and twelve' feet at the base, built of coquina, 
with an interior wall three feet thick. The space between the two 
walls was filled with earth, covered with rock for the terreplein. 
It was twenty-one feet high, with ramparts and an interior wall 
about two feet above the terreplein, on which the guns were 
mounted. There were four bastions filled with earth. The ditches 
were forty feet wide, the covered way, glacis, ravelins and place of 
arms were complete. 

The Spaniards v/orked diligently on the castle until the siege 
of 1702 by Governor Moore. It was then in a fair state of comple- 
tion. It withstood the siege without material damage. 

Between 1703 and 1740; the fort was casemated and placed in 
a splendid condition for defense, with ample water supply for all 
the people it could hold. The town was defended by a series of lines 
•of stockades and redoubts. The north by three lines of defense — 
one from Fort Moosa to the St. Sebastian, one from the chapel of 
Nuestra Senora de la Leche, where the Catholic cemetery is now 
located, and one from the fort to the city gates, thence to the St. 
Sebastian river. This line had an embankment and moat forty feet 
wide. There were five redoubts on the Fort Moosa line, and three 
redoubts on the other two north lines — one on the west side between 
the inner and middle north lines, also a line running from the west 
point of the fort in and along the St. Sebastian marsh, thence turn- 
ing to the eastward, making the soutl^ line, with five redoubts on 
the AVTst and two on the south line. There were five interior lines ; 
the south interior line running from the Matanzas west, connecting 
with the west line, the ISTew Smyrna road and ferry across the St. 
Sebastian river. The next interior line ran from the Matanzas west- 
ward, connecting with the St. Sebastian line on Little Bridge street, 
with a cross line forming a V, with the point near the monastery, 
•land a redoubt facing the south on each of these east and west lines. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 73 

The third interior line connects this second east and west interior 
line about two thirds of the distance from Matanzas to the St. Se- 
bastian, with five angles. The next interior line connects the first 
redoubt on the fort line with the Matanzas, with two redoubts and 
two angles. 

There was a large battery on Anastasia Island, covering the 
main entrances to the harbor. In vain Oglethorpe directed the fire 
of his large number of guns against the solid walls of the castle. 
1'he shoT at such a long distance did not penetrate more than thirty- 
three inches. This soft shell rock did not fracture or splinter in the 
least, but impacked the same almost as the shot did that was thrown 
into the redoubts. The Spaniards had about fifty cannon, many of 
them brass, ranging from twelve to forty-eight pounders, and com- 
manded by the brave and skillful General Monteano. On the 20th 
day of July, after thirty-eight days' siege, General Oglethorpe found 
it was impossible to breach the walls of the castle sufficiently to 
make an assault practicable; he abandoned the siege and returned 
to his territory. 

Governor Monteano repaired the walls of the castle where they 
had been injured by the besiegers. In 1755, Don Alonzo Fernandez 
de Herreda was appointed Governor of Florida, and completed the 
exterior works and finished the fort as it now is, with the exception 
of the water battery, which was constructed by the United States ; 
also the hot-shot furnace, which was completed in 1842; also the 
reconstruction and extension of the sea wall. 

The Apalachian Indians were compelled to work on the castle 
for sixty years. To their efforts are probably clue the evidence of the 
immense labor in the construction of the ditches, ramparts and 
glacis, and the approaches, the huge mass of stone contained in its 
solid walls. It required the labor of hundreds of workmen for manv 
years, procuring and cutting the stone in the quarries on the island, 
transporting them to the river and across the bay and fashioning 
and raising them to their places; besides the Indians compelled to 
labor on this structure, some labor was constanftly bestowed by the 
garrison. For a considerable period convicts were brought here from 
Mexico to work on the defenses and other public works. During the 
repairs and extensions effected by Monteano previous to the siege 
by Oglethorpe, he worked one hundred and forty Mexican convicts. 
The southwestern bastion is said to have been completed by Monte- 
ano. The bastions bore the names of St. Peter, St. Paul, St. 
Charles and St. Augustine. 

It took one hundred guns for its complete armament, with a 
garrison of one thousand men. It is completed on the Vauban plan 
of fortification. It is one of the best of this plan of defense. Its 
strength for resisting shot and shell has been thoroughly tested in 
■earlier days. It has never been taken, although twice besieged 
and several times . attacked. 



74 Ponce de Leon Land. 

Its frowning battlements and sepulchral vaults will long stand 
after we, and those of our day shall be numbered with that long 
past of which it is a memorial. Of the legends connected with its 
dark chambers and prison vaults, the chains, the instruments of 
torture, the skeletons walled in its secret recesses, of Coacoochee's 
escape, and many other tales there is much to say; but it is better 
said within its grim walls, wiiere the eye and the imagination can 
go together in weaving a web of mystery and awe over its sad asso- 
ciations to the solemn sound of the grating bolts and clanking 
chains. 

No fortress in all our broad land has as many quaint legends 
as this thrice named structure — San Juan de Pinas, San Marco and 
Marion. The entrance is over a draw bridge to the ravelin and 
across a bridge to the portcullis. Over the entrance is the coat 
of arms of Spain, with an inscription which is translated: "Don 
Fernandez the Sixth being King of Spain, and the Field Marshal 
Don Alonzo Fernandez de Herreda, Governor and Captain-General 
of the city of St. Augustine, Florida, and its province, this fortress 
was finished in the year 1756. The works were directed by the 
captain engineer, Don Pedro de Brazas y Garay.'^ 

On crossing the portcullis you pass through the massive door 
into the sallyport ; on the right are two guard rooms and a dungeon. 
The first guard room has a very large fireplace, the next having a 
smaller one. This dungeon was evidently used for the confinement 
of prisoners for minor ofi:enses. It was in this cell that Coacoochee 
and Talums Had jo were confined. These Indians starved them- 
selves for several days, until they were very much emaciated. They 
complained to the commanding officer that the confinement in the 
dark cell made them sick; they were transferred to the court room 
with Osceola, where they made their escape through iron bars eight 
inches apart, running horizontally across the ventilator. Next to 
the door are three niches cut in the wall by Osceola to enable him to 
climb up and sit on the ledge of the window over the door looking 
into the quadrangle. The casemate to the left of the sallyport was 
the commandant's quarters, and had a small fireplace. The next 
casemate w^as for the staff and other officers of the garrison. The 
next was used for the same purpose, except when the bishop came to 
Florida to visit his diocese it was used for his quarters ; as he came 
but seldom it was used for officers' quarters principally. The next 
casemate was the court room ; it has a raised platform for the offi- 
cers composing the court. On the next door is the last one of the 
original Spanish locks of very large dimensions, which was first 
locked, then a large bolt with a hasp closed the first keyhole and 
locked with a padlock; this door is strapped inside and out and 
bolted through the straps about five inches apart, so arranged that 
if the woodwork should be burned or cut away no one could get 



Ponce de Leon Land. 75 

through the bars. The woodwork has been renewed; the lock and 
bars are original ; the doors were thus constructed to all of the case- 
mates. In the northwest corner is the casemate that leads into the 
magazine ; in this room there is a niche very peculiarly shaped. For 
what purpose it was constructed no one can tell. There is a tra- 
dition that the first room was used for the council. If the com- 
mandant wished to find out what action any member of that body 
took on any measures that he put before them, he could conceal 
himself in this niche in the magazine and find cut what action 
each member of the council had taken. There is a small aperture 
from the niche into the council room, but not discernable from that 
room. 

The next room of historical importance is the chapel. In this 
is the niche for the patron saint, St. Augustine, and the altar. The 
adjoining rooms were used ordinarily for the dormitories and the 
records of the colony, and for condemned prisoners to hear mass 
before they were executed. At that time they could not bring a con- 
demned prisoner into a chapel; the moment he had a chance to 
kneel at the altar he could claim the right of sanctuary. In the wall 
near the spring of the arch is a part of the old timbers that crossed 
the room to support the platform for the choir ; on the right are the 
old timbers where the confessional was fastened to the wall — a round 
circular place for the priest and for the person to confess ; next is a 
portion of the two founts for holy water. Who can give the history 
of this chapel ? We know that some of the brightest, best and most 
patriotic of the Spanish clergy have celebrated mass within its walls. 
During the attacks and sieges of 4his fortress, when they have been 
driven from their monastery, church and chapel, they gathered 
within these walls to minister, assist and console their flock. Can 
we estimate the value of the labor of this noble band of brothers 
during the long sieges, when the weeping mothers, wives, sisters and 
daughters were expecting every moment to have some one of their 
loved ones brought to them dead or wounded ? They were not safe 
at the altar from the flying shot and bursting shell. Nor when cele- 
brating mass or giving the last sad rites to the dead were they secure 
from danger. 

The next room of historical importance is the pennancarrah . 
There were six crosses fastened to the wall on the right hand side of 
this room, and a large cross at the back with two large shrines, and 
two smaller shrines to the right and left of the large cross. This 
was used for the punishment of prisoners ; they were chained under 
these crosses for punishment ; the chains were attached to a bolt in 
the wall, it was fastened under the arms with cross chains over the 
shoulders, holding the prisoners in an upright position so they could 
neither sit nor lie down. There are two parallel lines at the spring 



76 Ponce de Leon Land. 

of the arch with large half circles above and small circles below. At 
the entrance to this dungeon is a large circle with small circles cen- 
tering on it; this entrance has been cut out at some time and then 
made narrower ^gain; a small part of this wall has been broken 
away. The door was compos'ed of three tiers of iron bars on broad 
iron plates; two tiers vertical and one tier horizontal intersecting 
every two inches. 

This dungeon was evidently used for general prisoners. The 
room is thirty feet long on the west side, sixteen feet on the east side, 
seventeen on the south and twenty on the north, making a part of a 
triangle. The entrance to the next room is through an aperture six 
feet high and two feet four inches wide. This room is five feet wide 
at the east end and seven at the west, and twenty feet long, fifteen 
feet high to the center of the arch. The next room is entered 
through an aperture thirty inches in height by three feet wide ; this 
room is twenty feet in length, thirteen in width and seven feet 
high. These two rooms have been the wonder of thousands of peo- 
ple since they were first discovered in 1835. Some very curious 
legends have been related about them. Some historians claim that 
one was the magazine, others say that it was the place for the 
disposal of rubbish for the garrison. 

The magazine v»^as in the northwest bastion. This is shown on 
a copy of the plan from the Spanish government to the War De- 
partment. These two rooms were built to cover a secret entrance to 
the castle, and were evidently built for that purpose after several 
attempts had been made to build a gallery from this inner room to 
some point outside the castle. It was found to be impracticable. 
They had to sink a shaft nearly twenty feet to connect with a gal- 
lery under the moat. They found they could not drive the piling 
for the foundation of the gallery in the limited space they had to 
work in or keep the water from penetrating into the shaft and gal- 
lery. The work was abandoned. No one outside the officials and the 
troops of the garrison knew that the attempt was made to build a 
secret passageway from this inner room to the outside of the fort. 
After abandoning the work the entrance to the first secret room was 
walled up. It was evidently closed with a solid iron door on the 
outside, and walled up solid on the inside. There was a small con- 
cealed entrance from the terreplein into this room; it was by this 
giving away while they were moving one of the heavy cannon across 
this man-hole these rooms were discovered in 1835, fourteen years 
after it had been transferred to the United States. In this room 
were cross timbers and racks for the punishment of prisoners in ex- 
treme cases. There were two solid iron doors closing the entrance to 
the next room that opened in and out and could be opened only 
from the side when they were closed. It is in this room, tradition 
says, that two skeletons were found in iron cages bolted to the wall — 



Ponce de Leon Land. 77 

the skeleton of a man and woman. The evidence remaining are the 
two places in the wall where the cages were fastened. If they were 
confined there, what was it for? Who were they? What crime 
had they committed, if any? 

It is probable that the crime committed was that of being in the 
way of some person of rank and power. If they had committed a 
crime against the laws of the land they could have brought them to 
trial and disposed of them without the trouble of immuring them in 
these secret dungeons. 

I am told by those who have been through all the noted dun- 
geons in the Old World that there are none there to equal these two 
rooms. Once confined within its gloomy walls death was certain 
within a few hours, without the least possible chance of escape. It 
was a strong rod to hold over a people to threaten them with the 
acquaintance of these rooms knowing that if they were sentenced by 
the court, or inquisition, to be confined within their gloomy walls 
they would never more be heard of in this world. None but the 
officials knew what became of them. What a terror to evildoers to 
threaten them with the acquaintance of these terrible dungeons. 

The next room of historical importance is the room to the right, 
under the arch, which was used for the hospital. There is a niche 
in this room on the left hand side as you go in, where, tradition says, 
there was found eighteen thousand dollars concealed. At the end 
is a very peculiar niche, which is supposed to have been used for the 
dead until they were sent to their last resting place. This is the last 
room that has historical interest. In the moat facing the Matanzas, 
to the right and left on the inner sides of the bastions, are a large 
number of bullet holes, which were made in the execution of prison- 
ers. There is no fortress in our country that has so quaint a his- 
tory as San Juan de Pinas, San Marco and Fort Marion. It should 
be remembered that within these walls served some of the best and 
bravest of the Spanish nobility, and at its altar some of its best mis- 
sionaries have celebrated mass and preached the word of our Ee- 
deemer. 

No one that has not visited this old fortress can conceive what 
it is. One should sit within one of its casemates and listen to the 
screech of those peculiar birds that nest and hatch their young 
within its walls — the monkey-faced owl, one of the quaintest birds on 
this continent — and view the peculiar shadows cast on its gray and 
aged walls, or from its lofty watch tower see the moon rising out of 
the broad Atlantic, casting a flood of light like burnished silver over 
the water. This is one of the few places on this continent that 
takes us back to the feudal ages. On this broad terreplein is one 
of the finest promenades in the United States. Who can say that 
i;his is not one of the most historical points in all our broad land? 



78 Ponce de Leon Land. 

CHAPTEE XXIX. 
Descriptive Plan of Fort Marion, Florida. 

FORT MARION is built on the plan of a trapezium after the 
pattern established by Marshal Vauban, of France. It has 
four bastions, four curtains, twenty-six casemates, one maga- 
zine, four dungeons and two small rooms under the rampart lead- 
ing to the terreplein, parrapet and rampart, corridor, banquet 
superior slope, scarp and counter scarp wall connects demilune and 
two half demilunes, covered way extending from the counter scarp 
to the glacis, except on the water front, which has a water battery, 
built by the United States in 1842; one watch tower, three sentry 
towers, two drawbridges and one port cullis. The watch tower is 
a higher elevation than the fort or any portion of the surrounding 
country, enabling the sentinel to see every vessel or person ap- 
proaching, in time to give warning. It overlooked the Indian vil- 
lages of Tolomato and Topiqui. The three sentry towers are at 
the extreme outer angle of the bastion, and are crenelled for rifle- 
men to fire through, and to enable the sentinels to see any one ap- 
proaching the fortress. 

The terreplein is the place where the guns are mounted. The 
Spanish guns were mounted on large field carriages. The fort has 
embrasures on three sides only. On the water front the parapet is 
lower than on the other sides, so as to allow them to bring their 
heaviest guns to bear on the water front, as they had most to fear 
from an attack by water. The parapet is the wall above the ram- 
pa]:t, and extends from the banquet to the scarp ; the superior slope 
is the top of the parapet, with a fall of one foot in five ; the cordon 
is a coping of dressed stone projecting eight inches from the face 
of the scarp; it is rounded, so as to leave no sharp corners that a 
hook might catch hold on, and to increase the difficulty in scaling; 
it gives the scarp a finished appearance; the scarp wall inclines in 
from the ground to the rampart, with a slope of one-fifth ; the mag- 
istral is where the face of the scarp meets the under surface of the 
cordon. From this line all distances are measured ; it is the most 
important line about the work. The counter scarp is the face wall 
of the moat; the water runs into the moat at high tide and runs 
out at low tide. During the Spanish occupation there were auto- 
matic gates that opened when the tide came in and closed when it 
started out, thus retaining the water. The cunette is the center of 
the moat, with the earth sloping to it in a regular grade to carry 
the water away. The quadrangle, or interior court, is one hundred 
feet square ; the terreplein is thirty-eight feet wide ; there are four 
bastions, one at each corner, which enables the defence to concen- 
trate the fire of a whole front on any point within range, and also 



Ponce de Leon Land. 79 

to sweep its own moats. The line of the fronts is broken up into 
a number of lines in a peculiar manner, and the result is what is 
known as a bastion front. 

The demilune is V-shaped, the salient of which is toward the 
middle of the south curtain, and protects the entrance. It has a 
moat surrounding it. The walls are several feet lower than the 
main work. The two sides are called faces; the interior is called 
the gorge of the demilune. There are two half demilunes, one on 
the north and one on the west curtains. 

Places of Arms. — To make a sortie, with any chance of suc- 
cess, troops must be assembled in considerable numbers, and col- 
umns of attack must be organized as close to the enemy as 
possible without discovery. There are two places on each front 
for such assemblies: (1) The salient place of arms; (2) the 
right re-entering place of arms; (3) the left re-entering place of 
arms. 

The salient place of arms is the part of the covered way in 
the angle immediately in front of the salient of the demilune. 

The right re-ent6rjng place of arms is where the covered way 
in front of the right face of the demilune meets the covered way 
of the main work. There both covered ways are widened consider- 
ably, and the quadrangle (four-sided) space thus obtained is the 
right re-entering place of arms. 

The left re-entering place of arms occupies a similar position 
in front of the left face of the demilune. 

A salient angle is an angle that projects outward; a re-entering 
angle is an angle that projects inward. 

The glacis is to protect the scarp wall as much as possible from 
an enemy's fire. It is a mass of earth thrown up outside the cov- 
ered way, and sloping with the same inclination as the superior 
slope of the parapet of the main work. To the gunner looking 
over the parapet of the main work this slope should look like a con- 
tinuation of the superior slope. The glacis extends outward always 
at the same inclination until it meets the natural surface of the 
ground upon which the fort is built. The crest, or highest point of 
the glacis, is on the side of the covered way, where it ends abruptly 
in a wall of masonry, just like a parapet. 

The main gate, or entrance, is in the middle of the south cur- 
tain. 



80 • Ponce de Leon Land. 

CHAPTEE XXX. 
Siege Operations. 

THE BESIEGING AEMY.— When it has been determined to 
reduce a fortified place by regular approaches an army is toled 

off for the work. The army should consist of infantry, cav- 
alry, field artillery, siege artillery and engineer troops, and should 
be sufficiently strong for the work it has to do, for not only must it 
be able to execute all the siege operations required, but at the same 
time to repel any possible sorties from the garrison and ta 
stand off any outside army that might attempt to raise the siege. 

Strength of the Besieging Army. — This will vary with 
circumstances. As a rule, however, experience has shown that 
6,500 infantry per mile of investments are none too many in a siege 
of first-class importance. 

Field Artillery. — The number of field guns required de- 
pends upon the number and character of the infantry troops. 
The better the infantry the fewer field guns are needed. On 
an average, five guns per thousand infantry ought to be enough. 

Cavalry. — Cavalry are indispensable in siege operations. The 
country behind the besieging army, in all directions, must be coh- 
stantly scouted and thoroughly picketed during the siege, and 
should a relieving army show itself anywhere within threatening 
distance, contact with it must be maintained by cavalry troops and 
the commanding general kept fully informed of all its movements. 
As it is not unlikely that a portion of the besieging p.rmy will be 
called upon to join battle with the relieving army during the prog- 
ress of the siege, the former should have at least the usual propor- 
tion of cavalry — say from one-eighth to one-fifth the number of its 
infantry. 

The Corps of Observation. — Is that portion of the besieging 
army detached to watch the movements of a relieving force, and to 
fight it if necessary. 

Siege Artillery. — Siege guns in sufficient numbers, and ar- 
tillerymen to serve them, should be on hand, or within easy reach, 
before siege operations are undertaken. There is no fixed rule as 
to the number and caliber of guns required, unless it be "more the 
better." The greater the number of guns in action the easier it is 
to maintain an overwhelming fire with the accuracy which requires 
deliberation. There is economy in it. The Germans had 200 rifled 
siege guns and 88 mortars at the siege of Strasburg, and they could 
have used more to advantage. 

The Investment. — The investment should be sudden and 
complete. The cavalry of the besieging army, supported by the 
corps of observation, advances rapidly, drives the enemy inside the 



Ponce de Leon Land. 81 

works, capturing as many prisoners as possible, and seizing all the 
roads and bypaths leading into it. The main body of the besieging 
army follows the corps of observation. 

The Camps. — Having got as close to the work as it is safe to 
go, the besieging army is distributed in convenient positions on all 
sides of the work, where camps are established facing outward and 
out of sight of the enemy. The camp faces outward — that is, away 
from the work — because any serious attack must come from that 
direction. 

The Line of Circumvallation. — As the greatest danger to 
the besieging army is apt to come from the outside, it first fortifies 
itself in that direction. After the camps are established, facing 
outward as already said, a line of entrenchments is thrown up about 
100 yards in front of the camp. Of course, due advantage is 
taken of all the natural features of the ground. Commanding 
points — key points, as they are called — will be crowned with re- 
doubts, armed with field artillery, and joined to each other by an 
ordinary trench for riflemen. 

The Line of Countervallation.— In rear of camps — ^that 
is, toward the work — another line of entrenchments is thrown up. 
This will be about the same distance in rear as the line of circum- 
vallation is in front of the camp, with such variation as the features 
of the ground may demand. The two lines are exactly alike, so 
far as their construction is concerned. The keypoints are crowned 
with redoubts armed with artillery and connected by rifle trenches. 
This new line of entrenchments is called the line of circumvalla- 
tion. 

Of course, the line of countervallation, being intended to stop 
any sortie from the work which might succeed in getting so far, 
will be constructed on ground best suited for that purpose. Still, it 
is not wise to have it too far away from the outer line. Any des- 
perate attempt to raise the siege will consist of attack from both 
directions and it is an advantage to be able to rapidly reinforce one 
line from the other. Care should be taken, however, that the line 
should not be placed so that an enemy in front of one could not 
take the other in reverse. 

The Survey. — While the camps, roads and lines are being 
constructed an accurate survey of the work and its surroundings 
is made, and a plan thereof prepared for the information of the 
commanding general. This plan should show the. position of the 
salients and as many of the details of the work as can be accurat-ely 
ascertained, especially on the fronts selected for attacks. The plan 
should show such interior features of the works as have been ascer- 
tained to exist. 

Siege Material. — When the camps, roads and lines have been 
completed, the besieging army is set to work preparing and col- 



82 Ponce de Leon Land. 

lecting siege material. Gabions, fascines, faggots and sap rollers 
are made; logs are cut, hewed and hauled; siege guns and mortars, 
ammunition, intrenching tools and stores are brought up; work- 
shops, storehouses and magazines are built; necessary roads are 
mafle, and everything done that can in any way help along the siege 
when it is once begun. 

Gabions. — A gabion is a rough cylindrical wickerwork basket, 
open at both ends. It is two feet in diameter, and two feet nine 
inches high. Gabions are needed in immense quantities during 
the siege. They are made by the troops. If there be any woods 
in the vicinity of the camps, soldiers may provide themselves with 
the necessary material ; if not, material is brought to the camps in 
wagons. The material consists of stakes or pickets three 
feet long and about one inch in diameter, and wattling twigs 
not quite so thick as the pickets, but as long as can be procured. 

To Make a Gabion. — A direct circle, which the soldiers make 
for themselves, and a hatchet, are all the tools required. The 
directing circle consists of two concentric hoops, the minor one 
two feet in diameter and the outer one four inches larger. Three 
blocks, two inches thick, are inserted between the hoops and lashed 
securely in position by means of pack thread. In making the 
gabion the directing circle is laid on the ground and seven or nine 
pickets are driven at equal distance apart in the open ring, space 
of the directing circle. These pickets are the ribs of the gabion. 
When pickets are all driven the directing circle is slipped up about 
half way to the top of the pickets and the upper half of the gabion 
is completed by wattling twigs between the pickets until the rough 
basket work reaches nearly to the top of the stakes. The gabioia 
is then turned upside do^vn, the directing circle is removed, the 
other half of the gabion is wattled in as before, and the gabion is 
complete. 

Fascines is a bundle of twigs nine inches in diameter and ten 
feet long, firmly bound at intervals with wire, spun yarn or tougk 
withes. When withes are used for binding their pliability can be 
increased by warming over a flame immediately before using them. 
Fascines are also made by the troops. The tools required are a 
fascine horse, a fascine chocker and a hatchet. The horse and the 
chocker are made by the men. 

A fascine horse is made by driving stakes obliquely in the 
ground in pairs, the stakes crossing each other about two feet 
above the ground, thus making something like an improvised 
sawbuck ten feet long. The pairs of stakes should be two feet 
apart. 

A fascine chocker is simply two stakes or handspikes and a 
piece of rope, with loops at the end sufficiently long to go around 



Ponce de Leon Land. M 

the loose bundles of twigs, which, when choked, bound and trimmed, 
becomes a fascine. 

To make the fascine, lay a sufficient number of twigs length- 
wise in the fascine horse, choke and bind at intervals of two feet, 
and then trim the ends. 

Fagots are bundles of twigs nine inches in diameter and two 
feet nine inches long. The}^ are bound in the same way as fascines, 
around a central stake, which projects six inches at each end. 
One end of this stake is sharpened, the other serves as a handle. 

A sap roller is simply an enormous gabion, four feet four 
inches in diameter and seven feet six inches long, and stuffed with 
short fascines. It is used in running a full sap. 

Planning Approaches. — While the work above described is 
going on, the commanding general, assisted by the proper staff 
officers, and the plan of work already described, selects the bastion 
to be attacked and plans the approaches. He selects sites for the 
artillery park, the magazines, the engineering depot and the bat- 
teries. In short, he lays down the siege operations on paper. 

The Artillery Park. — The artillery park is the ground arse- 
nal of the siege. It should be established at some place where it 
will be safely hidden and convenient. It is fenced in with a close 
board fence, at least eight feet high, is guarded and occupied by 
artillery troops, and it contains artillery storerooms, magazines, 
wheelwright shops, blacksmith shops, saddlers' shops, and carpen- 
ter shops. The magazine should be carefully separated from the 
rest of the park, and every precaution should be taken to prevent 
fire, or to extinguish it promptly should it break out anywhere. 
The artillery park is kept as secret as possible. No one is allowed 
to enter without proper authority. Its business offices are situated 
some distance from the park. Orders for supplies are delivered to 
the guard at the gate, and stores or ammunition are delivered to 
applicants at the same place. Only the artillery troops on duty at 
the park are permitted to enter. 

The Engineering Depot. — The engineering depot is an en- 
closure somewhat similar to the artillery park. It contains^ the 
entrenching tools, engineering instruments, materials for a siege, 
and is occupied by engineer troops. 

The First Parallel. — When the artillery park and engineer- 
ing depot are finished and stocked with at least ten days' supply 
of ammunition and material, when the guns are all up, and 
the plan of the siege completed, the first parallel is established. 

Tracing the Parallel. — The first parallel is traced by the 
engineers of the trenches. A dark night is selected; a foggy day 
would answer the purpose better. The engineer of the trenches, 
with a plan of the approaches in his hand, and accompanied by the 
necessary assistants, finds his way to the middle point of the par- 



M Ponce de Leon Land. 

allel. This point has been previously determined and marked thus 
on the plan. From that point he starts an assistant to run the 
right half and another to run the left half of the parallel. He 
sees that these assistants start, each with the correct bearing of his 
branch. Guided by the compasses, these assistants march slowly 
along the line of the parallel, followed by a man carrying a tape 
reel. The ends of the tape have been made fast to the initial point, 
and the tape on each reel is the exact length of the half -parallel. The 
tape is ordinary white tape, about three-quarters of an inch in 
width. As it runs oif the reel it is permitted to lie on the 
ground, and is distinctly visible, even in the darkness. When 
the tape is all paid out the engineers know that they have reached 
the end of the parallel, and the ends are made fast at B and C. 

The Fiest Guard of the Trenches. — While the first paral- 
lel is being traced a guard of sufficient strength to occupy the par- 
allel from end to end is drawn up in line some distance behind the 
line of the parallel. The men are instructed to advance directly to 
their front in perfect silence to and twenty yards beyond the white 
tape, and there to lie down and watch. They are the guard of the 
trenches. 

The Working Party. — A working party of sufficient strength 
to occupy the parallel at one yard intervals is assembled at the en- 
gineer depot at a short time before dark, and provided with in- 
trenching tools. They are deployed at dusk in rear of the ground 
first occupied by the guard of the trenches, and instructed to fol- 
low the guard in its advance until they came to the white tape, 
and there to dig, throwing the dirt toward the enemy. By daylight 
a good serviceable trench will be thrown up forming the first par- 
allel. 

Enfilading Batteries — First Parallel. — Before the ap- 
proaches can be driven forward it is necessary that the artillery fire 
of certain faces of the work be subdued. For this purpose enfilad- 
ing batteries are constructed. The faces to be subdued are those 
of the attacked bastion and the inner faces of the adjacent demi- 
lunes. The enfilading batteries of the first parallel are placed so 
as to sweep these faces. On the plan Nos. 1 and 3 on the right of 
the parallel enfilades the iner face of the left adjacent demilune, 
Nos. 5 and 7 the right face of the attacked bastion. On the left 
parallel Nos. 2 and 4 enfilade the inner face of the right adjacent 
demilune, and 6 and 8 the left face of the attacked bastion. Each 
battery should contain four siege guns. The positions for these 
batteries are selected during the day and the batteries carefully 
staked out. At night they are thrown up by artillerv troops, and 
the platforms are laid and the guns placed ii:i position. On the 
morning of the second day then eight batteries of the first parallel, 
containing thirty-two siege gims, should be ready for action. If 



Ponce de Leon Land. 85 

it be deemed advisable, more batteries may be constructed. There 
is room for any number of them. 

Mortar Batteries.— First Parallel.— In order to annoy 
the besieged garrison, to break up its bombproof shelters and gen- 
erally demolish the protections, and, if possible, blow up its mag- 
azines, a number of mortar batteries are constructed in front of the 
first parallel. The heaviest mortars are placed so as to fire along 
the capitals of the attacked bastions, and adjacent demilunes. Thus 
eight mortar batteries are placed on the line a l, four on 
c d, and four on e f, and, as each battery should contain four 
mortars, there would be sixty-four mortars in front of the first par- 
allel. 

These mortar batteries are constructed by artillery troops dur- 
ing the second night of the siege. They should be sunken batteries, 
so as not to mask the fire of the parallels, and they should all be 
ready to open on the second morning. 

Eoad-Making. — During the first day the working party on 
duty perfects and completes the first parallel, digs the necessary 
drains and ditches, and makes a good macadamized road in the bot- 
tom of the trench throughout the whole extent of the parallel. 
Other working parties build roads, also macadamized, connecting 
the approaches with the artillery park. All these roads should be 
finished before night. The batteries on the right of the parallel 
have exclusive use of the left road. The mortar batteries must use 
the middle road. 

The First Bombardment. — On the second niorning of the 
siege fire should be opened from every gun and mortar in position, 
each battery directing its fire upon its assigned target, and the 
fire should be kept up until the guns of the works on the face at- 
tacked are practically silenced. It is not to be assumed that the 
casualties will be on one side during this bombardment. Guns and 
carriages will be disabled in the siege batteries as well as in the 
work. But the besiegers are better prepared to replace guns than 
the garrison. A number of guns stand ready near the siege bat- 
teries, under the shelter of the parallel, and whenever a gun is dis- 
abled another is run forward 'to displace it, and the fire is delayed 
but a few minutes. Disabled guns and material are immediately 
sent back to the artillery park, strong detachments of park artil- 
lerymen being always on hand near the batteries for this kind of 
work. 

EoAD Eegulations. — The road from the artillery park to the 
batteries must always be kept open for traffic. To this end every- 
body connected with the siege must confine themselves strictly to 
their allotted roads. Infantry troops, ambulances, and all sup- 
plies other than artillery material and ammunition, should never 



86 Ponce de Leon Land. 

use the artillery roads, and the rule, "keep to the right." should be 
strictly enforced on all roads. 

The Approac hes. — Three approaches are driven forward from 
the first parallel on the third night of the siege; one along the 
capital of the attacked bastion, and one along the capital of each 
adjacent demilune. They are known as the right, left and center 
attack, according to their position in line. These approaches are 
not driven straight along the capital, as that would expose them to 
a sweeping fire from the work. To avoid such an enfilade they 
zigzag like a ship beating to windward, and never present an end 
to any portion of the besieged work. The rule is that the prolong- 
ation of every branch of the approaches must pass in front of every 
salient of the besieged work. 

Working Parties. — The approaches are driven forward by 
working parties detailed by company from the infantry of the be- 
sieging army, in such numbers as the engineer of the trenches may 
require. Batteries and artillery communications are made and re- 
paired by artillery troops assigned to that work by the chief of ar- 
tillery. The tour of duty for working parties should be eight 
hours. The reliefs on duty during the night drive the approaches 
as far forward as practicable, doing the work in the rough as it 
were. Those on duty during the day deepen and widen the trench, 
attend to its drainage and ' construct a good, practicable macada- 
mized road along it. The road and the drainage are very import- 
ant features. If they be neglected the trench is apt to become an 
impassable quagmire. It must be remembered that the approaches 
are the great highways of the siege, and that there is a constant 
stream of heavy traffic passing along them to and from the front. 

The Simple Trench. — As long as the danger from the 
«nemy^s fire is inconsiderable — that is, at long range — the ap- 
proaches are driven forward by means of the simple trench; that 
is, the men distribute themselves on the line marked out, and cover 
themselves as quickly as possible by digging and throwing the earth 
toward the enemy. The trench should be at least five feet deep 
and nine feet wide at the bottom. N'o gabions should be used in its 
construction. 

Tracing the Approaches. — The engineer of the trenches 
sees that sufficient work is laid out for every working party in ad- 
vance. He has an assistant with each party, and it is his duty to 
trace the approaches. This is done by stretching a white tape 
along the line of the approach. The men of the working party, if 
the advance be by means of the simple trench, arrange themselves 
along the tape and dig, throwing the earth over the tape in the di- 
rection of the enemy. As a rule, the simple trench can be used up 
to the second parallel. 

Guarding the Working Parties. — While working parties 



Ponce de Leon Land. 87 

always have their arms stacked within reach, and are ready in some 
measure to defend themselves in case of attack^ still a strong guard 
is always necessary to protect not only the workmen, but their work. 
The force thus employed is known as the guard of the trenches. It 
is detailed by battalions, the roster being kept at the headquarters 
of the besieging army ; and its tour of duty is twenty-four hours. 
A sufficient number of battalions are detailed to completely occupy 
the parallel, and, in addition, several field batteries and battalions 
of cavalry are detailed to cover flanks. These take up a convenient 
position, hidden from the enemy, outside of and some distance be- 
hind the batteries, on the flank of the first parallel. While the 
approaches are being driven forward from the first parallel the 
guard of the trenches occupy the parallel. 

The Second Parallel. — The working parties in the ap- 
proaches are safe from attack as long as they are nearer the guards 
in the parallel than the enemy in his outworks, but in course of 
time they get so far to the front that they are liable to be jumped 
on by a sortie before the guard can come to their assistance. To 
avoid this danger the second parallel is constructed at a point a 
little short of the danger point — that is, less than half-way to the 
enemy's nearest outwork. There is no regulation distance between 
parallels. 

The second parallel is similar to the first, but shorter, so that 
the flanks of the parallel are covered by fire from- the first parallel, 
and the artillery fire from the enfilading batteries will pass outside 
its extremities. If the work on the approaches has progressed fa- 
vorably the second parallels should be thrown up on the fifth night 
of the siege. The guard of the trenches move into it before day- 
light on the fifth morning. Still work continues on it after its 
occupation until it becomes a safe, serviceable and convenient ave- 
nue of communication and lodgment of troops. To enable the 
guard of the trenches to advance promptly over the parellel against 
any sortie that may be sent out by the besieged garrison, the side 
of the trench toward the enemy and the interior slope of the parapet 
are cut into steps and riveted with fascines. 

Batteries of the Second Parallel. — To help the batteries 
of the first parallel in finishing the work assigned them, and also 
to counterbatter the curtains and inner face of the collateral bas- 
tions, batteries are constructed on the flanks of the second parallel 
similar to those on the flank of the first. These batteries should 
be so placed as not to mask the fire of the batteries of the first 
parallel. The batteries of the second parallel may be armed 
with guns and mortars of smaller caliber than those of the first. 

Breaching the Demilune. — Before the introduction of rifled 
cannon it was necessary to drive forward the approaches to the very 
crest of the glacis and there establish batteries to breach the scarp. 



88 Ponce de Leon Land. 

But this is no longer necessary. Indeed, a breach can be made at 
one mile range with greater facility than at shorter ranges, and 
the work might be done at still greater distances. If, therefore, 
the first parallel has been established within 2,000 yards of the 
works, the batteries of that parallel will be favorably situated for 
breaching batteries. If, however, the first parallel was established 
at a greater distance, say 3,000 yards, then the breaching batteries 
would be on the second parallel. The batteries on the first parallel 
are within easy breaching distance. 

When the guns on the faces of the attacked bastions and those 
on the inner faces of the adjacent demilunes have all been silenced, 
and the fire from other parts of the works is w^ell under control, 
the two demilunes are subjected to a steady shower of shell from 
the mortars in the first and second parallels. This fire is intended 
to drive the enemy out of the demilune and its covered way and 
places of arms, and should be kept up night and day. Meantime 
the batteries of the second parallel are assigned the duty of 
keeping down the fire of the work and preventing repairs, and 
the batteries of the first parallel prepare to breach the demilunes. 

The Third Parallel. — Assuming that the second parallel 
was established about 1,200 yards from the work, further ap- 
proaches by means of simple trench will be too dangerous and re- 
sort must be had to the flying sap. The flying sap is the simple 
trench plus a pair of gabions. The approaches having been traced 
with tape as before, each man of the workinsr party at the head of 
the sap provides himself with a couple of gabions. These he car- 
ries, one on each side, by passing the handle of his pick through 
one and the handle of his shovel through the other, the lower edge 
of the gabions resting on the shovel and the pick. " At the word, 
perhaps a dozen men so equipped rush forward, plant their gabions 
on the enemy's side of the tape, and fill them with earth as fast as 
possible. When the gabions are filled the digger has tolerable 
shelter, and proceeds with his work more leisurely. Such method 
is not free from danger, but as the work is done at night, and the 
men need not all rush forward at the same time, the danger is not 
very great, and is more than counterbalanced by the celeritv of the 
operation. 

The third and all subsequent parallels are constructed in the 
same way as the second, special care being given to the steps in the 
parapet and trench. These parallels are merely lodgments for 
troops, and they are constructed with that purpose in view. 

The Full Sap. — Beyond the third parallel it may be found 
necessary to resort to the full sap, or rather a modification of that 
contrivance. The sap roller should not be necessary as the head 
of the sap is not exposed to any direct fire. But modern arms and 
modern marksmanship are such that the flying sap will have to be 



Ponce de Leon Land. 89 

abandoned when the third parallel is reached. The full sap, minus 
the sap roller, should be run by trained men, called sappers. Eight 
sappers constitutes a brigade, or rather the brigade consists of four 
sappers and four assistants. 

No. 1 sapper stands ii! the trench already dug, and, well cov- 
ered by the gabion and parapet already constructed, tosses another 
gabion into position, and fills it by throwing the earth forward into 
it. When the gabion is filled he gives place to No. 2 sapper, who 
continues the digging, throwing the earth over the gabion until he 
is exhausted. Nos. 3 and 4 follow in the same way, and then the 
assistants take up the work, widening and deepening the trench, 
while No. 1 fills another gabion. In this way the sap can be ad- 
vanced at the rate of two feet in ten minutes without much danger. 
Of course, the approaches are not complete when the assistant sap- 
pers are through with it. The regular working party completes it 
in the usual way. 

In this w^ay the approaches are driven forward, and parallel 
after parallel is constructed until assaulting distance is reached. 
Assaulting distance is about fifty yards. 

When the last parallel is finished and occupied, the demilunes 
are breached, batteries 1, 3, 5 and 7 direct their fire upon the scarp 
of the demilune on their side immediately behind the pancoupes, 
marked X in plan. Batteries 2, 4, 6 and 8 direct their fire on 
the scarp of the other demilune in a similar manner. Batteries 
9, 11, 13 and 15 counterbatter and keep down the fire of the main 
work in their front, and batteries 10, 12, 14 and 16 do the same 
for their front. The gunners are guided by observers in the paral- 
lel nearest the work, receiving reports by telegraph, telephone or 
signal. A practical breach should be effected in a few hours. 

Breaching the Main Work:. — When the demilunes have 
been breached, the breaching batteries turn their attention to the 
attacked bastion, directing their fire on its salient, in accordance 
with the report of the observer in the nearest parallel. This sa- 
lient, being objected to a cross fire from all the batteries in the par- 
allel, will be breached in a very short time. Meantime the demi- 
lunes should have been assaulted and carried, and the infantry 
should be ready to storm the breach in the attacked bastion the 
moment it becomes practicable. 

The artillery operations subsequent to breaching the attacked 
bastion will vary in each siege. The fire of the work must be kept 
dovm, and every breach must be prepared for assault by showers of 
shell from the mortars upon the position immediately behind the 
breach and wherever the defenders may be supposed to find lodg- 
ment. Should the demilunes or bastions be found to be retrenched, 
the entrenchments must be subjected to a vertical and curved fire 



99 Ponce de Leon Land. 

until they are finally assaulted and carried. Machine guns will 
no doubt play a prominent part on both sides during the later 
stages of the conflict. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
The Teansfer of Florida to England^ in 1763. 

THE Province of Florida was ceded to England by treaty in 1768. 
The Spanish inhabitants very generally left the country, 
which had been under Spanish rule for nearly two hundred 
years, and certainly in no portion of this country had less progress 
been made. Beyond the walls occupied by its garrison little had 
been attempted or accomplished in these two hundred years. This 
was in part attributable to the circumstances of the country, the 
frequent hostility of the Indians and the want of that material sup- 
port given by neighborhoods, which in Florida are less practicable 
than elsewhere ; but it was still more owing to the character of the 
Spanish inhabitants, who were more soldiers than civilians, and 
more townsmen than agriculturists; at all events, at the cession 
of Florida to Great Britain the number of inhabitants was not over 
ifive thousand. The English Governor made several extensive im- 
provements. During their occupation they constructed large bar- 
racks for troops and a bridge across the St. Sebastian. It is stated 
the number of inhabitants of East Florida, which in those days 
meant mostly St. Augustine, from 1663 to 1771 was as follows: 
Householders, besides women, two hundred and eighty-eight; im- 
ported by Mr. Turnbull, from Minorca, one thousand four hun- 
dred; negroes, upward of nine hundred; of the white heads of 
families, one hundred and forty-four were married, which was 
just one-half; thirty-one were storekeepers and traders, three hab- 
erdashers, fifteen inn-keepers, forty-five artificers and mechanics, 
one hundred and ten planters, four hunters, six cowkeepers, 
eleven overseers, and twelve draftsmen in the employ of the 
government, besides mathematicians; fifty-eight had left the 
province, twenty-eight died, of whom four, acting as constables, 
were killed; two were hanged for piracy. Among the names of 
those then residing in East Florida were Sir Charles Burdet, Wil- 
liam Drayton, planter, Chief Justice; Rev. John Forbes, parson. 
Judge of Admiralty and Counsellor; Rev. M. Eraser, parson at 
Mosquit ; Governor James Grant, Honorable John Moultre, planter 
and Lieutenant-Governor; William Stark, Esq., historian; Andrew 
Turnbull, Esq., His Majesty's Counsellor; Barnard Romans, drafts- 
man ; William Bartram, planter, and James Moultre, Esq. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 91 

The lighthouse on Anastasia Island had been constructed of 
coquina by the Spaniards. In 17 69, by order of General Haldiman, 
it was raised -sixty feet higher, with frame work ; and had a connon 
planted on top, w^hich was fired the moment the flag was hoisted for 
a signal to the town and pilots that a vessel was in sight. The 
lighthouse had two flagstaff s, one to the south and one to the north ; 
on either of which the flag was hoisted, to the south if the vessel was 
coming from there, and to the north if the vessel was coming from 
that direction. 

The town is one of the healthiest in the United States. It is 
nearly surrounded by salt water, with plenty of fruit, figs, guavas, 
plantains, pomegranites, lemons, limes, citrons, shaddocks, berga- 
mot, China and Seville oranges, the latter full of fruit through the 
winter. On the third of January, 1776, the thermometer sunk to 
26 degrees, vnth the wind from the northwest. The ground was 
frozen an inch deep. This was the fatal night that destroyed the 
lime, citrus and banana trees in St. Augustine. In 1740 there was 
a snow storm, and again in 1836. It did no damage. 

Dr. Nicholas Turnbull, in 1767, associated with Sir William 
Duncan and other Englishmen of note, projected a colony of Eu- 
ropean emigrants to be settled at New Smyrna. He brought from 
the islands of Greece^, Corsica and Minorca some fourteen hundred 
persons, agreeing to convey them free of expense, finding them in 
clothing and provisions, and at the end of three years to give fifty 
acres of land to each head of a family and twenty-five to each child. 
After a long passage they arrived and founded the settlement. The 
principal article of cultivation was indigo, which commanded a 
high price at that time, and was assisted by a bounty from the Eng- 
lish government. 

After a few years, Turnbull, as it is alleged, either from ava- 
rice or naturally evil mind, assumed control the most 'absolute over 
these colonies, and practiced cruelties most painful to them. 

An insurrection took place in 1769 among them, in consequence 
of severe punishment, which was speedily repressed, and the leaders 
brought to trial before the court at St. Augustine. Five of the 
number were convicted and sentenced to death. Governor Grant 
■pardoned two of the five, and a third was released upon the condition 
of his becoming the executioner of the other two. Mne years after 
the commencement of their settlement their number had become re- 
duced from one thousand four hundred to six hundred. In 1776 pro- 
ceedings were instituted in their behalf by Mr. Younge, the Attor- 
ney-General of the province, which resulted in their being exoner- 
ated from the contract with Turnbull; and they were thereupon 
assigned to the northern part of the city, which was principally 
built up by them, and their descendants at the present day form the 
largest part of the population of the place. 

7P 



92 Ponce de Leon Land. ' 

Governor Grant was the first English Governor, and vras a 
gentleman of much energy. During his term of office he projected 
many great and permanent improvements in the province. 

*^The public road, known as the King's road, from St. Augustine 
to Smyrna, and from St. Augustine to Jacksonville, and thence to 
Colerayne, was then constructed, and remains a lasting monument 
of his wisdom and desire for improvement. 

Governor Tanyn succeeded Governor Grant, and a legislative 
council was authorized to assemble, and a pretense and form of a 
constitutional government were gone through with. 

In August, 1775, a British vessel called the Betsy, Captain 
Lofthous, from London, with one hundred and eleven barrels of 
powder, was captured off the bar of St. Augustine by an American 
privateer from Charlestown, very much to the disgust and annoy- 
ance of the British authorities. 

At this period St. Augustine assumed much importance as a 
depot and 2^oint d'appui for the British forces in their operations 
against the Southern States, and very considerable forces were, at 
times, assembled here. 

The expedition of General Provost against Savannah was or- 
ganized and embarked from St. Augustine in 1777. Sixty of the 
best citizens of Carolina were seized by the British in 1780 and 
transported to St. Augustine as prisoners of war and hostages, 
among whom were Arthur Middleton, Edward Eutledge, General 
Gadsden and Mr. Calhoun. All were put upon parole, except Gen- 
eral Gadsden and Mr. Calhoun, who refused this indulgence and 
were committed to the fort, where they remained months close 
prisoners. General Rutherford and Colonel Isaacs of North Caro- 
lina were committed to the fort also. 

An expedition was fitted out from St. Augustine in 1783 to 
act against New Providence, under Colonel Devereux. With very 
slender means, that able officer succeeded in capturing and reducing 
th^ Bahamas, which have since remained under English domina- 
tion. 

The expense of supporting the government of East Florida 
during the English occupation was very considerable, amounting to 
the sum of £122,000. The exports of Florida in 1778 amounted to 
£48,000, and in 1772 the province exported forty thousand pounds 
of indigo, and in 1782 twenty thousand barrels of turpentine. 



Ponce de Leon Land. 93 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Eecession of Florida to Spain — The Erection of the Cathe- 
dral, 1783 to 1821. 

IN June, 1783, in fulfillment of a treaty between England and 
Spain, Florida, after twenty years of British occupation, was 

receded to the Spanish Crown, and taken possession of by Gov- 
ernor Zespedez. 

The English residents generally left the country and went 
either to the Bahamas, or Jamaica, or the United States. Those who 
went to the British islands were almost ruined, but those who set- 
tled in the United States were more successful. 

In April, 1793, the present Catholic Church was commenced, 
the previous church having been in another portion of the city. It 
was constructed under the direction of Don Mariana de la Rocque 
and Don P. Berrio,- government engineer officers. The cost of the 
church was $16,650, of which about $6,000 was received from the 
proceeds of the material and ornaments of the old church, about 
$1,000 from contributions of the inhabitants, and the remaining 
$10,000 was furnished by the government. One of its four bells has 
the following ihscription, showing it to be the oldest bell in the 
countrv. The inscription is: "Saint Joseph Ora Pro Nobis D., 
1682.^'*' 

In the spring of 1818, General Jackson made his celebrated 
incursion into Florida, and by a series of energetic movements fol- 
lowed the Seminoles and Creeks to their fastnesses and forever 
crushed the power of these formidable tribes for offensive opera- 
tions. 

In the latter part of 1817, a revolutionary party took posses- 
sion of Amelia Island and raised a soi-disant patriotic flag at Fer- 
nandina, supported mainly in the enterprise by adventurers from the 
United States. McGregor was assisted by officers of the United 
States army. An expedition was sent from St. Augustine by the 
Spanish government to eject the invaders, which failed. 

One Aury, an English adventurer, for a time held command 
there, and also a Mr. Hubbard, formerly sheriff of New York, who 
was the civil governor, and died there. The United States troops 
eventually interferred. Negotiations for the cession of Florida put 
a stop to further hostilities. 

The King of Spain, finding his possessions in Florida utterly 
worthless to his crown and only an expense to sustain the garrison, 
while the repeated attempts to disturb its political relations pre- 
vented any beneficial progress toward its settlement, gladly agreed, 
in 1819, to a transfer of Florida to the United States for five mil- 
lions of dollars. 



94 Ponce de Leon Land. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
Transfer of Florida to the United States. 

ON the 10th of July, in the year 1821, the standard of Spain, 
which had been raised two hundred and fifty-six years before 
over St. Augustine, was finally lowered forever from the walls 
over which it had so long fiuttered. The Stars and Stripes of the 
youngest of nations rose, where sooner or later the hand of destiny 
would assuredly have placed it. 

It was intended that the change of flags should take place on 
the Fourth of July. Owing to a detention this was frustrated, but 
the inhabitants celebrated the Fourth with a handsome public ball 
at the Governor's house. 

The Spanish garrison and officers connected with it returned to 
Cuba, and some of the Spanish families, but the larger portion of 
the inhabitants remained. A considerable influx of inhabitants 
from the adjoining States took place, and the town speedily assumed 
an American character. The proportion of American population 
since the change of flags has been about one-third. Most of the 
native inhabitants converse with equal fluency in either language. 

In the year 1823, the Legislative Council of Florida held its 
second session in the government house at St. Augustine. Governor 
W. P. Duval was the first Governor after the organization of the 
territory. 

In December, 1835, the war with the Seminole Indians broke 
out, and for some years St. Augustine was full of the pomp and cir- 
cumstance of war. It was dangerous to venture beyond the gates, 
and many sad scenes of Indian cruelty took place in the neighbor- 
hood of the city. 

The extensive barracks built during the English occupation 
were destroyed by fire in 1792. The Franciscan Convent was occu- 
pied, as it had been before, as a barracks for the troops not garri- 
soned in the fort. The apearance of these buildings has been much 
changed by the extensive repairs and alterations made by the 
United States government. It had formerly a large circular look- 
out, from which a beautiful view of the surrounding country was 
obtained. Its walls are among the oldest in the city. 

The present postoffice building was the residence of the Spanish 
Governor. It has been rebuilt by the United States; its former 
quaint and interesting appearance has been lost in removing its bal- 
conies and the handsome gateway, which is said to have been a fine 
specimen of Doric architecture. 

Trinity Episcopal Church was consecrated in 1833 by Bishop 
Bowen, of South Carolina. The Presb3^terian Church was built in 
1830 and the Methodist Chapel about 1840. The venerable building 



Ponce de Leon Land. 95 

on the bay, on the corner of Green Lane and Bay street, is considered 
one of the oldest buildings in the city, and has evidently been a 
fine building in its day. It was the residence of the Attorney-Gen- 
eral in English times. 

The monument on the public square was erected in 1812, upon 
the information of the adoption of the Spanish Constitution, as a 
memorial of that event, in pursuance of a royal order to that effect 
directed to the public authorities of all the provincial towns. The 
plan was made by the father of the late General Heraandez. A 
short time after it was put up the Spanish Constitution having a 
downfall, orders were issued by the government that all the monu- 
ments erected to the Constitution throughout its dominions should 
be demolished. The citizens of St. Augustine were unwilling to see 
their monument torn down, and, with the passive acquiescence of the 
Governor, the marble tablet inscribed "Plaza de la Constitution" 
being removed, the monument itself was allowed to stand ; and thus 
remains the only monument in existence to commemorate the 
farce of the Constitution of 1812. In 1818 the tablet was restored 
without objection. 

The bridge and causeway are the work of the United States 
government. The present sea wall was built between 1835 and 1842 
by the L^nited States, at an expense of one hundred thousand 
dollars. 

The house on St. Francis street, opposite the monastery build- 
ing, is considered the oldest building in the city ; it is owned by Dr. 
C. P. Carver, dentist. There was, until five years ago, a peculiar 
date palm tree growing in the yard; the heavy freeze that winter 
killed it. This house gives one ithe idea of the style of architecture 
used at the early period of the settlement of this country. It is one 
of the many quaint attractions of the Ancient City. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 
The Seminole War. 



THE early history of Florida Territory soon after it came into the 
possession of the United States, being written in characters 
of blood for years, it is considered both appropriate and inter- 
esting to intersperse a sprinkling of historical facts in this work, to 
the authenticity of which some now living can testify. 

The Indians were intensely opposed to emigrating West, as 
that country offered them no such means of idleness as Florida, 
where they lived with as little solicitude as the buzzards that lazily 
flew above their heads, while in Arkansas they would have to work. 



96 Ponce de Leon Land. 

They were a race of hunters and fishermen, with no habits of in- 
dustry, gliding on the surface of lakes and rivers with as little idea 
of locating as the watery inhabitants they captured. 

The movements of the Indians and American troops, encum- 
bered with their wagons or field pieces, compared unfavorably with 
the agile foe they had to meet in warfare, who could swim the 
streams and leap over the logs of the wide forest and vanish like 
the whooping crane that made its nest far from the spot where 
it dashed the dew from the flowers in the morning. 

One of the occasions of the Seminole War, like our own late 
struggle, was on account of the fugitive slaves which the Indians 
harbored instead of returning to their owners, or permitting their 
masters to come and get them. 

The following is a correct copy of an interesting document, to 
which frequent reference was made during the Florida War as a 
compact which had been violated. We have transferred it as an 
item of interest. As the whites found the Indians becoming trou- 
blesome neighbors, this treaty was drawn up in order to rid the 
country of them ; its violation being the true cause of the war : 

"Treaty of Payne's Landing, Concluded May 9, 1832, and 
Eatified April, 1834. 

"Article T. That the Seminole Indians relinquish to the 
United States all claim to the land they at present occupy in the 
Territory of Florida, and agree to emigrate to the country assigned 
to the Creeks, west of the ]\Iississippi river — it being understood that 
an additional extent of territory, proportioned to their number, will 
be added to the Creek country, and that the Seminoles will be re- 
ceived as a constituent part of the Creek Nation, and be readmitted 
to all the privileges as a member of the same. 

"Article II. For and in consideration of the relinquishment 
of claim in the first article of this agreement, and in full compensa- 
tion for all the improvements which may have been made on the 
lands thereby ceded, the United States stipulates to pay to the 
Seminole Indians fifteen thousand dollars, to be divided among the 
chiefs and warriors of the several towns, in a ratio proportioned to 
their population,the respective portions of each to be paid on tlieir 
arrival in the country they consent to move to ; it being understood 
their faithful interpreters, Abraham and Cud jo, shall receive two 
hundred dollars each of the above sum, in full remuneration for the 
improvements to be abandoned now cultivated by them. 

"Article III. The United States agree to distribute, as they 
arrive at their homes in the Creek territory, west of the Mississippi 
river, a blanket and homespun frock to each warrior, woman and 
child of the Seminole tribe of Indians. 

"Article TV. The United States agree to extend the annuity 



Ponce de Leon Land. 97 

for the support of a blacksmitli, provided for in the sixth article 
of the treaty of Camp Moultrie, for ten years beyond the period 
therein stipulated, and in addition to the other annuities secured 
under that treaty, the United States agree to pay three thousand 
dollars a year for fifteen years, commencing after the removal of the 
whole tribe. These sums to be added to the Creek annuities, and the 
whole sum to be divided, that the chiefs and warriors of the Semi- 
nole Indians may receive their equitable portion of the same, as 
members of the Creek confederation. 

"Article V. The United States will take the cattle belonging 
to the Seminoles at the valuation of some discreet person appointed 
by the President, and the same shall be paid for in money to the 
respective owners after their arrival at their new homes, or other 
cattle such as may be desired, will be furnished them ; notice being 
given through their agent of their wishes on the subject before 
their removal, that time may be afforded to supply the demand. 

"Article YI. The Seminoles being anxious to be relieved from 
certain vexatious demands for slaves and other property alleged 
to have been stolen and destroyed by them, so that they may remove 
to their new homes unembarrassed, the United States stipulates to 
have the same properly investigated, and to liquidate such as may 
be satisfactorily established, provided the amount does not exceed 
seven thousand dollars. 

"Article YIL The Seminole Indians will remove in three 
years after the ratification of this agreement, and the expenses of 
their removal shall be paid by the United States, and such subsist- 
ence shall also be furnished for a term not exceeding twelve months 
after their arrival at their new residence, as in the opinion of the 
President their numbers may require ; the emigration to commence 
as early as practicable in A. D. 1833, and with those Indians occu- 
pying the Big Swamp and other parts of the country beyond, as 
defined in the second article of the treaty, concluded at Camp 
Moultrie Creek, so that the whole of that portion of the Seminoles 
may be removed within the year aforesaid, and the remainder of 
the tribe in about equal proportions during the subsequent years, 
1834 and 1835. 

"Done at Camp at Payne's Landing, on the Ocklawaha river, 
in the Territory of Florida, May 9, 1832. 

""James Gadsden, 
"Commissioner, and Fifteen Chiefs. (L. S.)" 

Osceola figured very conspicuously during the early history 
of our Florida troubles. Indeed, we consider the following state- 
ments connected with his movements as items of unsurpassed inter- 
est to those who are more fond of facts without fiction than the 
wondrous legends of any day-dreamer. 



98 Ponce DE Leon Land. 

The motlier of Osceola belonged to the Red Stick tribe of 
Indians — a branch of the Creeks. She was married to Powell, who 
was an English trader among the Indians for twenty years, and for 
this reason he is sometimes called Powell intead of Osceola. He 
was born in the State of Georgia, on the Tallapoosa river, about the 
year 1800. In 1808 a quarrel occurred among the Indians of the 
Creek tribe, when the mother of Osceola left, taking him with her, 
and retiring to the Okefinokee Swamp. Powell remained in Geor- 
gia with his two daughters and emigrated to the West with them. 

In 1817 Osceola retreated before General Jackson with a small 
party, and settled on Peace creek. A few years afterward he re- 
moved to the Big Swamp, in the neighborhood of Fort King, unit- 
ing himself with the Miccosukees. The greater portion of his life 
was spent in disquietude, when there was neither peace nor war, but 
depredations in various ways. He was opposed to the Payne treaty, 
declaring he would fight before signing it, or kill any of his follow- 
ers who made a move toward its ratification. 

When the Indians held a council at Fort King, consisting of 
thirteen chiefs, only eight of them were willing to leave for the 
West. Hoithlee Matee, or Jumper, a sworn enemy of the whites, 
who was called "the lawyer," and for whom General Jackson had 
offered a reward of five hundred dollars, rose in the council with all 
the dignity of a Roman orator, after which he announced his inten- 
tion in thundering tones: "I say there is no good feeling between 
Jumper and the white man. Every branch he hews from a tree 
on our soil is a limb sapped from Hoithlee's body; every drop of 
water that a white man drinks from our springs is so much blood 
from Hoithlee's heart." 

After the return of Charlie Emathla from the West, who was 
the most intelligent of their chiefs, he met the whites in council 
that he might give expression to his opinion. "Remain with us 
here," said he to the whites, "and be our father. The relation of 
parent and child to each other is peace; it is gentle as arrowroot 
and honey. The disorderly among us have committed some depre- 
dations, but no blood has been spilled. We have agreed that if we 
met a brother's blood on the road, or even found his dead body, we 
should not believe it was by human violence, but that he snagged his 
foot, or that a tree had fallen upon him ; that if blood was spilled 
by either, the offender should answer for it." 

Previous to this period the Indians were lords of the soil, and 
considered themselves located in a land of undisputed titles as 
entirely their own property, by right of possession, as though they 
held registered deeds. 

The following is an effort at Indian poetry, descriptive of their 
condition previous to hostile demonstrations: 



Ponce de Leon Land. 99 

"We were a happy people then, 

Rejoicing in our hunter mood; 
No footsteps of the pale-faced men 

Had marred our solitude." 

Osceola was not tall, but of fine figure and splendid physique. 
His head was always encircled with a blue turban, surmounted by 
the waving tafa luste, or black eagle plumes, with a red sash around 
his waist. He was a time-server — a self -constituted agent — and a 
dangerous enemy when enraged. In 1834 the United States Survey 
Corps, while camping at Fort King, was visited by Osceola. Fred 
L. Ming being their captain. Indians always show their friendship 
by eating with their friends. On this occasion he refused all solici- 
tations to partake of their hospitality, and sat in silence, the foam 
of rage resting in the corners of his mouth. Finally he arose to 
retire, at the same time assuming a menacing manner, and seizing 
the surveyor's chain, said : "If you cross my land I will break this 
chain in as many pieces as there are links in it, and then throw the 
pins so far you can never get. them again.'' Like most of his race, 
he was possessed of a native eloquence, of which the following is a 
specimen, after the Payne's Landing treaty was framed and signed 
by some of the chiefs : "There is little more to be said. The people 
have agreed in council; by their chiefs they have uttered it; it is 
well ; it is the truth, and must not be broken. I speak ; what I say 
I will do ; there remains nothing worthy of words. If the hail rat- 
tles, let the flowers be crushed ; the stately oak of the forest will lift 
its head to the sky and storms, towering and unscathed." 

The whites continued to urge the stipulations of the treaty to 
be enforced, while the Indians continued opposing it in every way. 
It is the law of our nature that the weak should suspect the strong ; 
for this reason the Seminoles did not regard the Creeks as their 
friends, but feared them. Captain Wiley Thompson, the agent, 
kept reminding the Indians that they had made a promise to leave 
for the West. Messages were also sent to Micanopy, who, after 
much debate, said he would not go. Sometime afterward General 
Thompson ordered Osceola to come up and sign the emigration list, 
which request moved the indignation of the savage to the highest 
pitch of desperation, and he replied : "I will not !" General Thomp- 
son then told him he had talked with the Big Chief in Washington, 
who would teach him better. He replierl : " I care no more for Jack- 
son than for you," and rushing up to the emigration treaty as if to 
make his mark, stuck his knife through the paper. For this act of 
contempt he was seized, manacled and confined in Fort King. 
When Colonel Fanning arrested him he was heard to mutter: "The 
sun is overhead; I shall remember the hour. The agent has his 
dav — I will have mine." After he was first imprisoned he became 
sullen, but soon manifested signs of penitence and called the inter- 

LofC. 



100 Ponce de Leon Land. 

preter, promising if his irons were taken off to come back when the 
sun was high overhead and bring with him one hundred warriors to 
sign the paper, which promise was fulfilled. The great mistake wa& 
made in releasing him from Fort King. If he had then been sent 
West much blood and treasures would have been spared. He had 
one talk for the white man and another for the red, being a strange 
compound of duplicity and superiority. After his release he com- 
manded his warriors to have their knives in readiness, their rifles 
in order, with plenty of powder in their pouches, and commenced 
collecting a strong force, not eating or sleeping until it was done. 

The first direct demonstration of hostility was on June 19, 
1835, near what is called Hogg's Town settlement, at which time one- 
Indian was killed, another fatally injured; also, three whites 
wounded. The fray commenced by some whites whipping a party 
of five Indians, whom they caught in the act of stealing. Private 
Dalton, a dispatch rider, was killed August 11, 1835, while carrying 
the mail from Fort Brooks to Fort King. This was an act of re- 
venge for an Indian killed in a former encounter. Dalton was found 
twenty miles from Fort King, with his body cut open and sunk in a 
pond. The Indians commenced snapping their guns in the face of 
the government, at the same time expressing their contempt for the 
laAvs, and threatening the country with bloodshed if any force should 
be used to restrain them, November 30, 1835, the following order 
was issued by the agent: "The citizens are warned to consult their 
safety by guarding against Indian depredations." Hostilities were 
soon inagurated in a most shocking manner with a tragedy of deep 
import — in the killing of Charlie Emathla, November 26, 1835, 
which act was a cold-blooded murder, Osceola heading the band of 
savages. Charlie Emathla was shot because he favored emigration, 
and was preparing to move West. 

Osceola afterward selected ten of his boldest warriors, who were 
to wreak vengeance on General Thompson. The general was then 
camping at Fort King, little dreaming that the hour of his dissolu- 
tion was so near, or that Osceola was lying in wait to murder him. 
Although a messenger was sent to tell Osceola of the Wahoo Swamp 
engagement being in readiness, no laurels won on other fields had 
any charms for him until Thompson should be victimized by his 
revengeful machination. After lingering about for seven days, 
the opportune moment presented itself when Thompson was invited 
away from the fort. On the afternoon of December 28, 1836, as he- 
and Lieutenant Smith who had dined out that day, were unguard- 
edly walking toward the sutler's store, about a mile from the post, 
the savages discovered them. Osceola said : "Leave the agent for me ; 
I will manage him." They were immediately attacked by the war- 
riors. They both received the full fire of the enemy and fell dead. 

Thompson was perforated with fourteen bullet holes and Smith 



Ponce de Leon Land. 101 

with five. The Indians then proceeded to the store, where they shot 
Rogers and four others. After the murder they robbed the store and^ 
set fire to the building ; the smoke gave the alarm, but the garrison ' 
at Fort King being small, no assistance could be rendered them. 

On the same day, December 28th, and nearly the same hour. 
Major T. L. Dade, when five miles from Wahoo Swamp, was 
attacked while on his way from Fort Brooks to Fort King. The 
Indians were headed by Jumper, who had previously warned those 
who were cowards not to join him. Micanopy, their chief, who was 
celebrated for his gluttony, and, like the Trojan heroes, could eat 
a whole calf or lamb and then coil up like a snake for digestion, on 
a previous occasion, when an appeal was made to him, by the argu- 
ment of bullet force, replied: "I will show you,'' and afterward 
stationed himself behind a tree awaiting the arrival of the Fort 
Brooks force, while his warriors lay concealed in the high grass 
around them. When Major Dade arrived opposite where the chief and 
his men were ambushed, Micanopy, in honor of his position as 
head chief, leveled his rifie and killed him instantly. Major Dade 
was shot through the heart and died, apparently, without a strug- 
gle. The savages rushed from their covert, when Captain Frazier 
was the next victim, together with more than a hundred of his com- 
panions. The suddenness of the attack, the natural situation of the 
country, with its prairies of tall grass, each palmetto thicket being 
a fortress of security, from which they could hurl their death-dealing 
bullets, were all formidable foes with which the whites had to con- 
tend. Within a few hours' march of Fort King, under the noon- 
day splendor of a Florida sun, were one hundred and seven lifeless 
bodies which had been surprised, murdered and scalped, with no 
quarter and far from the sound of human sympathy. 

The night after the "Dade Massacre" the Indians returned to 
Wahoo Swamp with the warm life-current dripping from the scalps 
of those they had slain. These scalps were given to Hadjo, their 
medicine man, who placed them on a pole ten feet high, around 
which they all danced, after smearing their faces with the blood of 
their foes'^and drinking freely of fire-water. One instance is men- 
tioned worthy of remark, in regard to finding Major Dade's men 
with their personal property untouched. Breastpins of the officers 
were on their breasts, watches in their places, and silver money in 
their pockets. They took the military coat of Major Dade and 
some clothing from his men, with all their arms and ammunition, 
which proved they were not fighting for spoils, but their homes. 
The bloody eight hundred, after they had committed the murder, 
left the bodies unburied and without mutilation, except from 
scalping. They were buried by the command of Major-General 
Gaines, who also named this tragic ground "The Field of the Dead."' 



102 I^ONCE DE Leox Land. 

Fights now followed each other in rapid succession. Long im- 
pending hostilities burst upon the white settlers, who, in turn, 
* sought every opportunity of gratifying their revenge for outrages 
committed. No person was safe; death lurked in every place, and 
there was security to none. Acts of fiendish barbarity were of com- 
mon occurrence. Houses burned, the labor of years gone forever, 
while many of the missing were consumed in the flames of their own 
dwelling, the savages dancing around the funeral piles. The In- 
dians appeared seized with a kind of desperation which knew no 
quarter and asked for none, constantly posting themselves in the 
most . frequented highways with the intention of slaying or being 
slain. 

On the 31st of December, the same year, the Indians receiving 
information that the troops under General Clinch were approaching 
and would cross the Withlacoochee, posted themselves at the usual 
fording places for the purpose of intercepting them. General 
Clinch was surprised by them, as they had greatly the advantage, 
being among the trees, while the troops were in an open space with 
only an old leaky canoe to cross in, under constant fire of the 
enemy; some of them being obliged to swim. The soldiers, accus- 
tomed to Indian warfare, never forded twice in the same place. 
Captain Ellis, now a worthy citizen of Gainesville, Florida, who com- 
manded a company during the Seminole War, being present when 
the attack was made, says: "I was so much afraid the war would 
be over before I had a chance to be in a fight, I was glad when I 
saw the Indians coming, but I got enough fighting before it was 
through with." When he saw the savages at the commencement of 
this engagement, not knowing of the massacre, he said : "Boys, the 
Indians have been killing our men, for they have got on their coats." 

Osceola was the prime leader in this first battle of Withlacoo- 
chee, and, although a whole platoon fired at him, he seemed to be 
bullet proof. From behind the tree where he was stationed he 
brought do^^m his man at every fire to the number of forty. He 
ordered his warriors not to run from the pale faces, but to fight. 
The contest was a close one, but General Clinch held his ground. 
After the Indians retreated the troops buried their dead and built 
log fires over their remains to keep the enemy from digging them 
up and scalping them. 

During September, 1837, Osceola sent in negotiations of peace 
to General Hernandez through an envoy, accompanied with presents 
of a bead pipe and a white plume as an assurance that the path of 
the pale face was peaceful and safe. General Hernandez, with the 
sanction of General Jessup, returned presents and friendly mes- 
sages, requesting the presence of Osceola, with the distinct under- 
standing that it was for the purpose of making arrangements for 
the emigration of his people. The messenger returnd in accordance 



Ponce de Leon Land. 103 

with his previous contract, reporting that Osceola was then on his 
way to St. Angnstine with one hundred warriors. Osceola had 
never heretofore regarded the sacredness of a flag of truce as bind- 
ing, besides, being engaged in the abduction of Micanopy and oth- 
ers, who would otherwise have complied with the terms of the treaty, 
General Jessup intended before his arrival to have him detained. 
General Hernandez, who was the soul of honor, remonstrated with 
him, when he replied : "I am your superior ; it is your duty to obey." 
General Hernandez met them at Fort Peyton, near Pelicier creek, 
about seven miles southwest of St. Augustine. Fronf the inquiries 
of General Hernandez in regard to the other chiefs and their local- 
ity, Osceola soon comprehended the situation, and when asked for 
replies to the General's questions, he said to the interpreter : "I feel 
choked. You must speak for me." The place where they were 
assembled for parley being surrounded by a detachment of dragoons, 
they closed in on them, capturing the whole band without firing a 
shot. 

This strategy in taking Osceola did not tarnish the laurels of 
General Jessup in the least; a much greater blunder was committed 
in turning him loose after his first capture. Those who have con- 
demned him must think of the anxiety by day and horrors at night 
through which these poor settlers struggled, while time passed like 
a bewildering dream of terror ; improvements of all kinds languish- 
ing with a sickly growth, while the dragon of war sowed the seed 
of discord and desecrated the golden fleece of the harvest with a 
bloody hand. 

When Osceola was first captured he was imprisoned in Fort 
Marion, but was afterward removed to Sullivan's Island, where his 
wife and child accompanied him. He was a sad prisoner — never 
known to laugh during his confinement, but often heard to sigh. 
During his last illness he had the best medical attention from 
Charleston, whose skill he refused, believing they intended poison- 
ing him. To one of his wives he was very much attached, and his 
spirit passed away while leaning on her bosom. He died in 1838 
from an inflammation of the throat. 

Osceola had always lived among the Seminoles, and regarded 
their lot as his. The name of his wife was Checho-ter, or Morning 
Dew. She was a Creek, and their family consisted of four children. 
Osceola had two sisters livino: in the Creek nation. 



104 Ponce de Leon Land. 

CHAPTEE XXXV. 

The Seminole War Near St. Augustine. 

TEAVELEES who imagine themselves greatly inconvenienced 
and have so much to complain about, for more profitable em- 
ployment, after riding in the pleasant steam cars from Jack- 
sonville to St. Augustine, will peruse the following, from which 
they can form some idea of the contrast within fifty years in 
Elorida : • 

December^ 1840. 
''Notice to Travelers St. Augustine and Picolata Stage: 

"The subscriber has commenced running a comfortable car- 
riage between St. Augustine and Picolata twice a week. A mili- 
tary escort will accompany the stage going and returning. Fare 
each way, five dollars. The subscriber assures those who may 
patronize this undertaking that his horses are strong and sound; 
his carriages commodious and comfortable; that none but careful 
and sober drivers will be employed; also every attention will be 
paid to their comfort and convenience. Passengers will be called 
for when the escort is about leaving the city.'' 

We have selected from the many one of the atrocious acts of 
violence committed by the savages previous to this arrangement 
upon a worthy and respected citizen. Dr. Philip Weedman, whose 
three most estimable daughters are still living in St. Augustine. 

"November 25, 1839. — Shortly after the mail wagon left the 
city Dr. Philip Weedman, Sr., accompanied by his little son, a lad 
about twelve years of age, both in an open wagon, with Mr. Graves, 
on horseback, left for the purpose of visiting his former residence, 
now occupied as a garrison by a part of Captain Miekler's company. 
On arriving at the commencement of Long Swamp, without any 
previous warning, he was fired upon and killed, having received two 
balls in his breast; his little son was wounded in the head, baring 
his brain; also cut with a knife. The mutilated youth, with the 
remains of the dead father, were brought in town to-day. The 
express returned for medical aid, causing the Indians to run, as the 
wagon containing the mail was fired into, wounding Captain Searle 
and killing a Poland er who was riding horseback." 

"Tuesday, November 26, 1839.— The funeral of Dr. Philip 
Weedman took place to-day, attended by all of our citizens, who 
sympathize deeply with his numerous family." 

The Polander, Mr. Possenantzky, was buried the same day 
according to the Hebrew form. The Indians continued firing on 
the covered wagon trains, calling them "cloth houses ;" their object 
being to obtain supplies. When a proposition was made to have 



Ponce de Leon Land. 105 

fortiiied wagons hostile Indians were something which could not 
be worked by any rule. They were the exception. 

On Saturday, February 15, 1840, we find a record of two mail-' 
carriers having been murdered, one seven and the other nine miles 
-distant — G. W. Walton, from South Carolina, while on his way to 
Jacksonville, and Mr. J. Garcias, near Live Oak Camp. The let- 
ters were undisturbed, although carried some distance. Both of 
the murdered men were buried in St. Augustine. Afterward the 
mail was accompanied by an escort of five men. 

^'We have tried to hold up some cause, with the semblance of 
a shade, to delude us into the belief that the Indians have less 
acti^v-it}- and enterprise than the white men, but facts stand forward 
in bold relief denying us even the poor consolation which such de- 
lusions might aiford us. The lifeless bodies of our brethren speak 
trumpot-tongued in favor of their removal, and the wail of hearts 
blighted by their successes is stronger and more piercing than the 
fictitiou.s surroundings of excited fancies." 

Here is another thrust at the bloodhounds: "These distin- 
guished auxiliaries have received more attention than their service 
deserves, while great apprehension fills the minds of many for fear 
they should perchance bite a Seminole. We would state as a 
quietus that a competent tooth-drawer will accompany them, enter- 
ing upon his dental duties very soon.'^ 

Another frhocking murder occurred between Picolata and St. 
Augustine befoi-e the St. Johns Eailroad was surveyed between 
Tocoi and St. Augustine: 

"May 29th, 1840. — On Friday last a carriage and wagon had 
been obtained to proceed to Picolata for the purpose of bringing 
some baggage and gentlemen connected with the theatrical com- 
pany of W. C. Forbes, from Savannah. Leaving Picolata on Satur- 
day morning, May 23d, in addition to their own party they were 
joined by Mr. D. G. Yose of New York and Mr. Miller of Bruns- 
wick, whr. all reached the eleven-mile military post in safety. When 
within seven miles of St. Augustine they were fired upon by Indians, 
severely wounding Vose, Miller and Wigger, a young German musi- 
cian. While this" work of death was going on a wagon which had 
left the barracks that morning was seen approaching; it contained 
three persons besides the driver — Mr. Francis Medicis of St. Aus^us- 
tine, Mr. A. Ball and Mr. Beaufort. The Indians fired upon them 
near the six-mile post, when Mr. Beaufort and the driver escaped. 
The mules ran away with the wagon. The firing being heard at the 
little garrison of seven men, they turned out, when they saw dis- 
tinctly twenty Indians. News having been received in town by a 
lad coming in on one of the horses, a party of gentlemen repaired 
thither; on reach ins: the ground there lay Mr. Ball dead, while fur- 
ther on was the body of Mr. Medicis, lying on his side, his hands 



106 Ponce de Leon Land. 

clenclied as if in the attitude of supplication, his right shirt sleeve 
burned with powder and covered with blood. Mr. Francis Medicis 
was murdered the 23d of May, 1840, between the hours of eleven and 
twelve o'clock. The bodies of Messrs. Medicis, Ball and Vose were 
brought in at dusk; that of Mr. Miller about nine o'clock. The 
bodies of the strangers were placed in the council chamber. Mr. 
Forbes and his company passed over the Picolata road on the 22d 
of May, except Messrs. W'igger, German and Thomas A. Line. 
Mr. Wigger was murdered, Thomas A. Line hid himself in a swamp, 
sinking up to his neck and covering his face with a bonnet leaf, 
which he raised, to the great surprise of his companions when they 
were searching for the survivors and gathering up the wounded." 

The oldest citizens in St. Augustine now say that when Mr. 
German, vocalist, one of the theatricals, arrived in the city, after his 
escape, his hair was standing perfectly erect on his head, and in 
twenty-four hours turned entirely white. As the Indians rifled the 
baggage wagon, they carried off a considerable portion of the stage 
dresses and other paraphernalia. 

Now, we can peruse these tragic events as the visions of some 
wild romancer, or relate them to children as nursery tales, partaking 
enough of the terrible to excite a desire for the wonderful. Wearied 
with waiting, and heartsick of bloody murders, we find the following 
piece of composition written on this solemn occasion: 

"How long shall the earth drink the blood of our women and 
children, and the soil be dyed with the ebbing life of manhood? 
Could they have looked with us upon the mangled corpses of Indian 
wrath as they were laid upon the public 'highway, or gone to the 
council room and surveyed on its table, where side by side the mar- 
ble forms of four men lay, who a few hours before were looking to 
the future as filled with bright enjo3nment, they would then have 
whistled their philanthropy to the winds and cried aloud for ven- 
geance. That was a sight never to be forgotten. We have seen 
men killed in battle and perish by disease on the ocean, but amid 
the many affecting and unpleasant incidents that have met our gaze 
we have never seen a spectacle like that. Here, in the rigidity of 
death, lay the youthful German, on whom manhood had just 
dawned, also the compact forms of muscular health, with the less 
vigorous frames of more advanced years. A casual glance might 
mistake it for a mimic scene, where art had exhausted her power 
in its production. But there was the pallid hue of faces ; there was 
the gash the knife had made in its course to the heart; the cleft 
forehead parted by the tomahawk in its descent to the brain, and 
there the silent drop, dropping of crimson fluid to the floor, while 
our secretary, with his usual imbecility, issues orders to muzzle the 
bloodhounds. The funerals of these unfortunate victims took place 
on Sunday, attended by a large concourse of people, who expressed 



Ponce de Leon Land. 107 

the keenest indignation at the repetition of . such a scene so near our 
eit}^ Wild Cat was the leader of this band^ as lie stopped after- 
ward at the plantation of E. S. Jencks, Esq.^ and told the servants 
he had committed the murder." 

The troupe filled their engagement at St. Augustine as only a 
musician had been killed from their number. History says: "The 
sterling comedy of 'The Honeymoon' was performed to a crowded 
house." Afterward the following notice appeared : "During the win- 
ter months we have no doubt that a troupe embodying the same 
amount of talent which the present company possess would find it 
profitable to spend a month with us each season." 

Coacoochee, or Wild Cat, was captured with Osceola in 1836, 
and afterward made his escape, or he never would have been per- 
mitted to commit such a series of appalling atrocities as those which 
we have recorded. Wild Cat frequently visited the residence of 
General Hernandez, who lived on Charlotte street. He also very 
much admired one of his beautiful daughters, and, like lovers at the 
present day, wanted an excuse for returning ; consequently, on going 
away he would leave one of his silver crescents, which he wore on his 
breast as a defense and for ornament, to be polished, and, when 
he returned, taking the one he left before and leaving another. He 
delighted to stand in front of a large mirror which General Hernan- 
dez had in his parlor and admire his person. He said if Miss Kitty 
Hernandez would be his wife she should never work any more, but 
always ride on a pony wherever she went; that Sukey, his present 
wife, should wait on her ; but Miss Kitty would be queen. He fre- 
quently made assertions of his friendship for the family. When on 
one occasion some of them remarked that he would kill them as 
quick as anybody if he should find them in the Indian nation, he 
replied: "Yes, I would; for you had better die by the hand of a 
friend than an enemy." 



CHAPTEK XXXVI. 

Coacoochee and Hadjo's Escape and Kecapture. 

THE following is an account of Coacoochee's escape and recap- 
ture : "In all ages of the world there have lived those who laugh 
at iron bars and defy prison doors — among whom we find the 
Seminole Chief, Wild Cat, who appeared to.be proof against bullets, 
with a body no dungeon could hold. He was very indignant on ac- 
count of his imprisonment, denouncing his persecutors in no meas- 
ured terms. He said the Avhite man had given one hand in friendship 
while in the other he carried a snake with which he lied and stung 

8P 



108 Ponce de Leon Land. 

the red man. While in Fort Marion he planned his escape in a most 
remarkable manner. He complained of illness, at the same time 
manifesting signs of indisposition, and made a request that he might 
be permitted to go in search of a curative agency. Accompanied by 
a guard, he was again permitted to breathe the pure air of his native 
home, but not in freedom. This movement furnished him v/ith an 
opportunity for reconnoitering and measuring with his eye the dis- 
tance outside the fort from the ventilator in his cell. After his 
return he resorted to the use of his herbs and abstained from food, 
which had the effect of reducing his size, which was unnecessary, for 
he easily got through the eight inch bars. He selected a stormy 
night for the undertaking, when the guards would be the least in- 
clined to vigilance, and commenced making preparations by tearing 
his blanket into strips to make a rope, which he made fast inside his 
cell, and by working a knife into the masonry formed steps. This, 
with the aid of his companion's shoulders, enabled him to reach the 
ventilator, a distance of eighteen feet, through which he escaped by 
taking a swinging leap of twenty feet into the ditch, skinning hfs 
back and chest effectually. His companion, Talums Had jo, was 
less fortunate than himself. After a desperate effort to get through, 
he lost his hold and fell the whole way to the ground. Wild Cat 
thought him dead, but his ankle was only sprained, and after 
enlisting the service of a mule grazing in the vicinity he was soon 
far away from bolts and bars which could restrain his wild, free- 
born movements. 

Wild Cat had a twin sister, to whom he was much attached. 
He said she visited him after her death in a white cloud, and thus 
relates her apearance: "Her long hair, that I had often braided, 
hung down her back. With one hand she gave me a string of white 
pearls ; in the other she held a cup sparkling with pure water, which 
she said came from the fountain of the Great Spirit, and if I 
would drink of it I should return and live forever. As I drank 
she sung the peace song of the Seminoles, while White Wings danced 
around me. She then took me by the hand and said, 'All is peace 
here.' After this she stepped into the cloud again, waved her hand 
and was gone. The pearls she gave me were stolen after I was im- 
prisoned in St. Augustine. During certain times in the moon, 
when I had them, I could commune with the spirit of my sister. I 
may be buried in the earth or sunk in the water, but I shall go to 
her and there live. Where my sister lives game is abundant, and the 
white man is never seen." 

This chieftain was afterward induced to come in for a parley 
to a depot established on the head waters of Peace creek. The fol- 
lowing is a description 6f his appearance on that occasion : 

"About midday on March 5, 1841, Wild Cat was announced as 
approaching the encampment, preceded by friendly Indians, and fol- 



Ponce de Leon Land. 109 

lowed by seven trusty warriors. He came within the chain of senti- 
nels boldly and fearlessly, decorated, as were his companions, in the 
most fantastic manner. Part of the wardrobe plundered from the 
theatrical troupe the year previous was wrapped about their persons 
in the most ludicrous and grotesque style. The nodding plumes of 
the haughty Dane, as personated in the sock and buskin boasting of 
his ancestry and revenge, now decorated the brow of the unyielding 
savage whose ferocity had desolated the country by blood, and whose 
ancestors had bequeathed the soil now consecrated with their ashes, 
which he had defended with unswerving fidelity. He claimed no 
rights or inheritance but tho;=e he was prepared to defend. Modestly 
by his side walked a friend wound up in the simple garb of Horatio, 
while in the rear was Eichard III., judging from his royal purple 
and ermine, combined with the hideous visage. Others were orna- 
mented with the crimson vest and spangles according to fancy. He 
entered the tent of Colonel Worth, who was prepared to receive him, 
and shook hands with the officers all round, undisturbed in manner 
or language. His speech was modest and fluent. His child, aged 
twelve years, v/hich the troops had captured at Fort Mellon during 
the fight, now rushed into his arms. Tears seldom give utterance to 
the impulse of an Indian^s heart, but when he found the innate 
enemies of his race the protector of his child he wept. With accu- 
racy and feeling he detailed the occurrences of the past four 3^ears. 
He said the whites had dealt unjustly by him. ^I came to them; 
they deceived me. "The land I was upon I loved ; my body is made of 
its sands. The Great Spirit gave me legs to walk it, hands to help 
myself, eyes to see its ponds, rivers, forests and game ; then a head, 
with which to think. The sun, which is v/arm and bright, brings 
forth our crops, and the moon brings back the spirits of our war- 
riors, our fathers, wives and children.' Wild Cat admitted the 
necessity of his leaving the country, hard as it was. After remain- 
ing four days he returned with his child to the tribe." 

General Worth commanded the army in Florida at this time. 
He established the headquarters of his command in the saddle, only 
asking his troops to follow where he should lead. 

Wild Cat had a subtle, cunning disposition, which gave the 
whites much trouble. They had deceived him, and his confidence 
in the pale faces was much shaken, but, being induced by General 
A¥orth, he was prevailed upon to meet in council. The general 
made a direct appeal to his vanity by telling him he had the power 
to end the war if he chose, as they were all tired of fighting. 

Wild Cat was finally captured during the month of June. His 
camp was thirty-five miles from Fort Pierce, on the Okeechobee 
Swamp. He abandoned the idea of emigration, and his name was a 
t^error to all the white settlers.. He agreed to leave with the Semi- 
rjole and Miec?)sukie tribes, who elected hirn tlieir leader. His part- 



110 Ponce de Leon Land. 

ing address, as he stood upon the deck, was as follows : "I am looking 
at the last pine tree of my native land. I am leaving Florida for- 
ever. To part from it is like the separation of kindred, but I have 
thrown away my rifle. I have shaken hands with the white man, 
and to him I look for protection." 

Wild Cat, after being sent to ISTew Orleans, was brought back 
to Tampa, that he might have a talk with his band, which num- 
bered one hundred and sixty, including negroes. He was too proud 
to come from the vessel with his shackles, but when they were re- 
moved he talked freely with his people, and wanted all to be sent 
West without delay. He died on the way to Arkansas, and was 
buried on the banks of the Mississipni river. War to him was only 
a source of recreation. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 
Fort Marion Taken Possession of by Florida Troops. 

JANUARY 7, 1861, Fort Marion was taken possession of by 
Florida troops, by order of the Governor, even before the ordi- 
nance of secession was passed. It had been used for an arsenal 
for years. The stores fell into the hands of the insurgents. The 
fort was used for a rendezvous for recruits most of the time up to its 
surrender to Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, U. S. X. On the 11th 
of March, 18r52, he crossed the bar in the Wabash with a flag of 
truce. The city and government property was surrendered by the 
Mayor, who informed him that the two companies of Florida troops 
who had garrisoned the fort had left the place on the previous eve- 
ning, leaving the public property in his charge. 



CHAPTER XXXYIIL 



Confinement of the Comanche, Kiowa, Arrapaho and Chiri- 
CAHUA Apache Indian Prisoners of War in the Fort. 



IN 1875, Fort Marion was used for the confinement of a number 
of Comanche, Kiowa and Arrapaho Indians, comprising a 
number of leading chiefs and head men, who had been taken 
prisoners by the United States troops serving on the Western fron- 
tier. Captain Pratt, U. S. A., had charge of the Indians while they 
were confined in Fort Marion. 



Ponce DE Leon Land. ill 

April 13;, 1886, seventy-seven Chiricahua Apache Indian pris- 
oners of war were sent to Fort Marion for continenient. The Chiri- 
cahua Apaches are one of the many bands of the Apache nation, 
which at that time numbered about 47,000 people. This band num- 
bered over five hundred, and had the best warriors in the Apache 
nation. Chihuahua was the head chief of this part of the band, 
and was retained as head chief of all the Indians while they re- 
mained here. He was a very skillful fighter, and understood the 
whites thoroughly, he having been first sergeant of a company of 
Indian scouts for two years. He had served his time, and was 
discharged before he joined the hostiles. The Indians had promised 
to come in and surrender at a point near San Barnardina. They 
came in, but the night before the surrender was to take place Geron- 
imo got his band drunk and induced them to go on the war path 
again. Chihuahua kept his word and surrendered with his band. 

During the thirteen months that I had the immediate care of 
these Indians I found most of them trustworthy, truthful and honest 
in every respect. 

With this part of the band was old Xanna, the greatest war 
chief of the Apache nation. He probably has more scars on his 
body than any man in this country. It was N"anna that tried to save 
Victory. He sent a small squad with Victory into the mountains, 
and tried to obliterate their trail, thinking that the troops would fol- 
low the large party, but instead, they found the small trail and fol- 
lowed it, attacked the band, killing Victory and a number of his 
braves. 

Nanna was the oldest war chief of the band. He was six feet 
in height and strongly built, and was always pleasant while here. 
He spent hours in teaching the Apache language and their dances 
to my son. I^anna vras originally a Warm Snring Apache. It was 
his old band that were our scouts against the Modoc Indians. 

ISTatchez was the head chief of this band. Chihuahua, Geron- 
imo, Chatto, Xanna, Loco, Bastuea, Cheve, Mangus and Kituna 
were the other chiefs. Of these, ^NTatchez, Geronimo and Mangus 
and fourteen braves were sent to Fort Pickens, Fla. This was the 
part of the band that went on the war path again after promising 
to surrender. There were five hundred and five all told, brave, 
squaws and children. There was no interpreter sent with Chi- 
hauhua's band. When the large squad from Arizona was sent here 
there were two interpreters with them, Sam Boman and Conception. 
With a few exceptions, the Indians behaved very well while in con- 
finement here. On the 26th of April theywere transferred to Mount 
Vernon, Ala. They still remain prisoners of war and have been 
sent to the Indian Territory. 

. Captain Pratt, United States Army,. was the first to attempt 
the edueatioTi of Indian prisoners of war. He w-as ably assisted % 



112 Ponce DE Leon Land. 

Mrs. Mathers. This lady took a great interest m the instruction of 
the Apaches, assisted by Mrs. Dr. Carnthers and the Misses Clark. 
A large class was instructed by the Sisters of St. Joseph. All the 
above were very successful in their endeavors to educate these pris- 
oners. The following is a part of the names as near correct as can 
be translated in English: To-day, Cona, Lanzea, Nausen, Cisner, 
Shunarclay, Chechet, Staloch, Fritz, Johnnie, Kasochon, Darkei, 
Toyski, Charlie, Phil, Kroshega, Spudy, Bender, No Slin, Ston, 
Conaenato, Donshedan, Soz, Goody-Goody, Goso, Joshya, Parlo, So- 
zone, Jim, Mgharzen, Notar, Whenoshe, Bezenas, Couporal, Siele, 
Sizzen, Kaleson, Harry, Katar, Kerozona, Bashozon, Bizha, Josa- 
nan, Coyonhe, Chatto, Kashonar, Bahaley, Fatty, Shiltinoo, Bach- 
lom, Natchez, Eeskeney. 

Will give a few words in Apache and English translation : 

Lomry, fire ; to, water ; buckshay, beef ; potsesha, axe ; a, shirt ; 
anate, trowsers; ka, shoes; chess, wood; ow, yes; chetta, blanket; 
tlago, night ; dozuda, no good ; va shindan, do you see ; hi-u-den-ya, 
where are you going ; que dal ga, what your name ; ou-chisty, come 
here ; youychey, go ; edlo, thread ; doque, how many ; do da, no ; 
bakechee, ink: elshinero, baby or child; is congo, to-morrow; pesh, 
knife ; kash bea cay, shovel : montocho, orange ; nantan, commander ; 
oujue, good ; noy oustee, rain ; nato, tobacco ; tinco, matches ; nad e 
ste, pipe : basque, brush ; bagazuda, broom ; queah, sick. 

The following is the system of counting by the Apaches : One, 
dath la; two, nock ke; three, ti; four, te; five, ashli; six, goston; 
seven, gostid ; eight, sapee ; nine, gost i ; ten, gones nan ; eleven, 
thla zotta ; twelve, nock ke zotta; thirteen, ti zotta; fourteen, te 
zotta; fifteen, ashli zotta; sixteen, goston zotta; seventeen, goste 
zotta ; eighteen, spee zotta ; nineteen, gosta zotta ; twenty, nat teen ; 
twenty-one, nateen thla; twenty-two, nateen nock e; twenty-three, 
nateen ti : twenty-four, nateen te ; twenty-five, nateen ash li. 

The Apaches do not use the sign language except in writing. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

The Hotels in St. Augustine — The Climate. 

THE Ponce de Leon, Cordova and Alcazar stand without a peer 
in any part of the world. The construction of the first of 
these magnificent buildings was commenced November 30th, 
1885, and finished May 80th, 1887. The other hotels are the St. 
George, Florida, Magnolia. Barcelonia, Valencia, Algonquin, the 
Palmetto and-.others, -The-.-elimat^ of Florida spea;ks for itself, of 
St;- Augustine especially. , ■ • r • 



Ponce de Leon Land. 



1 1:? 



In conclusion of the Third Edition the author has but little 
to add. The troops stationed in St. Augustine part of the time 
during the Spanish- American war was a part of the 1st, 2nd 6th 
Artillery, five Infantry regulars and two companies of the' 2nd 
^ Vi! o ^^^^^^^^y- It ^^-as first intended to use Fort Marion 
lor the Spanish prisoners of war captured from the Spanish fleet 
m Cuba, but, the yellow fever breaking out among them the order 
was changed and they were sent north and quarantined. It was 
used for our own military prisoners until the 21st of February 
1900, when the remainder of them were sent to Fort Monroe, Va' 

Have endeavored in this edition to condense as much history 
ot Florida m as small a book as it was possible to make, withdraw- 
^^^x?. advertisements, leaving. a plain condensed Colonial Historv 
of Florida. ^ 

Forty years ago the 27th of April I joined the army. The 
5th of April will give me 35 years continuous service in the reg- 
ular army; the rest of the time in the 35th A^ Y. Vol Infantry 
and 20th ]N'. Y. A' ol. Cavalry. The Spanish-American war brought 
but little to me but some broken joints, caused by stopping a mule 
team from running away with about 4,000 pounds of ammunition, 
shot, shell and powder, which we were transferring to the battery 
on the island, thus saving a government mule team, five men of 
the 5th Infantry, myself, and the making of a much larger en- 
trance into Fort Marion than was intended by the Spanish en- 
gineers. 

Have endeavored in this work to answer most of the questions 
asked me by about 1,500,000 people. How well I have succeeded 
you can best tell. With my best wishes to all, 
Very respectfullv, 

"^G. M. BEOWN, 
Ordnance Sergeant, U. S. A. 



'.'-f^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 499 696 3 § 



